Quite the potentially final interview with William T. Vollmann: bigreaderbadgrades.substack.com/p/we-always-...

Last week I flew to Sacramento to interview William T. Vollmann about his terminal illness, his new 3,096-page novel, and what he plans to do with the time he has left. bigreaderbadgrades.substack.com/p/we-always-...

This bit in @bigreaderbadgrades.bsky.social's new interview with William Vollmann is like horrifying and sad and made me laugh out loud.

A deeply-researched series about how Robert Caro's YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON took shape and found an audience open.substack.com/pub/bigreade...

Thanks for the kind words! I worked on this for a long time, it's great to see people are still finding and enjoying it!

I spent 4 months reporting this profile of Bret Easton Ellis, culminating in an interview with the man himself. substack.com/home/post/p-...

A very long essay about Bret Easton Ellis. I admit my interest waned after the section dealing with GLAMORAMA (which is not only Ellis's best book, but one of the best books of the 1990s) but I read the whole thing. You should too. www.metropolitanreview.org/p/the-very-g...

For the 35th anniversary of #AmericanPsycho, by Bret Easton Ellis, here's a long investigative piece charting how the book was sold, then written, the canceled open.substack.com/pub/bigreade...

@rangedtouch.bsky.social I'm really excited for your Alan Moore interview at the end of Promethea! Have you set a date for when it woll be posted?

After one week, my 11,500-word profile of Alan Moore and his ambitious new project with @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social, THE LONG LONDON, is getting picked up by other venues! open.substack.com/pub/metropol...

rewatching stranger things and realizing “oh that’s the same music they used during the ‘birth’ of Doctor manhattan in the watchmen” and wondering why I can remember this but not my sister’s birthday

I spent the past few months reporting a profile of Alan Moore: his shift to full-time novelist, his fallout with DC, and his new, risky, huge project at @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social Indiscreet here, but I think @pattonoswalt.bsky.social would like it open.substack.com/pub/metropol...

Alan Moore awakened by news of a forthcoming V for Vendetta prestige tv series

Thanks to @bundleofholding.com for spreading the word!

Grateful to @kottke.org for sharing the deep-dive Alan Moore profile I wrote for The Metropolitan Review!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I'll take advantage of the kind word as a reason for reposting it -- www.metropolitanreview.org/p/giant-of-t...

Liefeld allegedly has a tape recording of a 3-hour phone conversation with Alan Moore from when he (Moore) had just seen Pulp Fiction for the first time. "I can't get Tarantino off my MIND..." Moore insists he's never spoken with Liefeld on the phone. Liefeld says he'll release the tape someday.

Ultimate stamp of approval: spending 3 months researching a 40pg profile about an eccentric, challenging author--and getting a thumbs up from that author's fans when it's done. Read about Alan Moore's latest career moves at The Metropolitan Review! www.metropolitanreview.org/p/giant-of-t...

I read this more than twelve hours ago and just as Christmas carols are tinkling through every storefront I've got "Monster Mash" stuck in my head on loop

This is unspeakably lovely.

A new 11,000-word profile about #AlanMoore, now a full-time novelist, and his risky new venture: a five-part fantasy series for Bloomsbury open.substack.com/pub/metropol...

The Metropolitan Review just published my 15,000-word investigative piece about #houseofleaves author @markzdanielewski.bsky.social, his 27-volume novel THE FAMILIAR, and offers the first profile of his father, the cult filmmaker, Tad Danielewski substack.com/home/post/p-...

Bummer he's gotta point out that latter part as a feature but I appreciate the sentiment.

"Fantastica" means good

Phrases like "staggeringly good" are disarming because (1) I've never written anything that gained a big readership, (2) this article pitch was rejected at least 30 times

Truly a gift to all.

For the past couple months I've been working on a story of William T. Vollmann's 3,000 page novel, TABLE FOR FORTUNE, and the tragic saga surrounding its publication. It's long, but it's published, and I've never had a more rewarding experience as a writer. open.substack.com/pub/metropol...

Elon Musk, enemy of wasteful government spending, created a multi-million dollar government crisis this weekend when he demanded every government employee send him an email explaining what they did last week. On Monday he said it was a joke. bigreaderbadgrades.substack.com/p/musk-waste...

The new iconic photo that i predicted ultimately destroys the relationship:

2-disc greatest hits album of Supertramp is one of the first i ever bought. I was 15. Loving one track and then getting tense when it switched to the next one. Started questioning my understanding of music if this was really a "greatest hit"...

I can’t believe the Supreme Court said the president was above the law and now the president is acting like he’s above the law.

Party of Law & Order: "Actually judges kinda suck?lol"

“[I]f cutting the federal government is what this is all about, then Trump and Musk wouldn't bother with U.S.A.I.D., whose budget of $40 billion is less than 1% of the government’s. The point is not a policy fight; it’s an execution. They are killing 1 agency to terrify 1,000 others.”—Susan Glasser

There it is

Remarkable how many Democrats in these focus groups can easily imagine Oprah Winfrey ordering a drone strike.

My heart sang when I'd been writing daily political pieces on Substack for three or four months without a single Like or Comment--and suddenly, I got a notification. Someone's reading! Someone's responding! Open it up and it's a commenter with a MAGA hat thumbnail: "Go fuck yourself"

Commentary this week from Heather Cox Richardson and Yuval Levin shows that Donald Trump, in his third week of office isn't just succumbing to a White House cycle--he's showing how he's actually gotten worse at this job. bigreaderbadgrades.substack.com/p/trumps-ord...

Spent a couple weeks on Lola Young's music. Now I've spent a week on her YouTube shorts. There's something very pure about her joy that I don't think makes sense without the music.

This is perfect, just subbed! I've been giving WIRED the same dumb look I gave Rolling Stone, when they were killing it with political reporting in 2024: "Yeah they have a good one this week, but thats not my kinda magazine..." Took a while to just respect that quality is quality.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to Panama this week to discuss U.S. annexation of the Canal. Panamanian President Jose Mulino signaled refusal to discuss it. So why would an emissary of Trump even go? Probably cuz that wasn't his actual goal. open.substack.com/pub/bigreade...

To their credit, Dems are working on the messaging. They're getting better.

"He's a bad fucking guy." -- Joey Robinette.

To help Trump save face, by making bullshit "concessions" before he lifted the tariffs on Mexico, President Sheinbaum made Trump promise to work on the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico. 70--90% of traceable guns in Mexico came down from the U.S. www.rawstory.com/trump-mexico...

Speaking of books that lend to queer readings, I don't think I've even unpacked a lot of the stuff in Gatsby yet. Part of what makes it a masterpiece is it seems to comment on everything: capitalism, friendship, grief, love, sexuality, obsession, failure, success... It's a book to age with.

Sidenote: I re-read THE GIVER two years ago and it lends *remarkably* well to a queer interpretation. Like there's something on every page.

My debut novel came out yesterday, I keep feeling apprehensions about promoting it on social media, then I see how @meidastouch.com promotes their content and, good lord, we should all be more like that.

Trump, on tariffs in Europe: “So the UK is way out of line and we’ll see the, uh—the UK, but European Union is really out of line. UK is out of line, but I’m sure that one—I think that one can be worked out. But the, uh, European Union is, it’s, uh, an atrocity. What they’ve done.” He's lost.