Hippobookamus
This past January 24, a baby named Fiona was born in Cincinnati to proud parents Henry and Bibi. None of these people have last names, because they are all hippopotamuses. Fiona, born six weeks… Read more »
Living in the crosshairs: Trump’s nuclear threats highlight the folly of nuclear deterrence
Back in April, we wrote about an article Melville House’s own Rudolph Herzog had published in Foreign Policy, urging his native Germany not to build an illegal nuclear arsenal. Herzog’s arguments that threat of nuclear annihilation should… Read more »
Woke up, it was Chelsea tweeting, and the first thing Corey Robin heard
Like so many stories lately, this one starts with a tweet that came ringin’ out like Christmas bells. No, not another Trumptweet™ — this one sprang from the Blackberry of overpaid… Read more »
A heroic French philosopher dies saving children from drowning
Very sad, and improbably poignant, news from France: philosopher and psychoanalyst Anne Dufourmantelle has died. Dufourmantelle, fifty-three, was the author of more than twenty books, some of them co-written with Jacques Derrida,… Read more »
One Spicey meatball: Bye bye, Sean, and don’t let the door hit you
Let me begin with a confession: I have, more than once, felt sympathy for Sean Spicer. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not going to defend Spicer, propose his rehabilitation as a figure… Read more »
Cents and Sensitivity: At long last, Jane Austen’s in the money, though not without problems
Good news for folks who love both money and wittily perceptive fiction: soon, you’ll be able to travel to the UK and buy whatever you need—pants to wear under your favourite… Read more »
Hey, can I play you something?
Check out this song, it’s weird and excellent: So, yeah. That was Potrzebie (That’s What I Want) by Mike “Sport” Murphy. Each author’s name—including, forgive me for observing, more than… Read more »
Homophobes come for a progressive kids’ imprint, and legions of sweetie-pies rally to their defense
Recently, we wrote about Australia’s Avid Reader bookshop, whose Facebook user ratings had been targeted by a horde of Men’s Rights Activists following their decision to boost a signal from feminist author Clementine Ford. Happily,… Read more »
Fifty years ago, Newark was in flames
Fifty years ago this week, one of the biggest, wildest urban convulsions in American history took hold of Newark, New Jersey. As usual, there were mounting tensions, and then there was… Read more »
The horseradish on the hamburger: Of Trump, Putin, the press, and the urgent legacy of Anna Politkovskaya
Last week, as the G20 met in Hamburg (please use this space to imagine your own flavorful beef joke) amid raging protests, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin got to… Read more »