For the record though, you're right TLAotA, that Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Voltaire were WAAAAAAY better at creating great literature out of their philosophies. Dostoevsky is my favorite.

I will continue to enjoy Ayn Rand's ability to tell a story while continuing to strongly dislike almost all of her politics and philosophy. I like her books. Her novels, anyway.

I'll be there.
I just need to find out when that is in mountain standard time, first.

Questions for Possible Discussion
1. Really, what the hell is up with the Arizona totem pole?

I think 9/11 is essential to the book…it shows that the WE that came to an end was not just one little group in one office building but an entire more innocent, more invulnerable-feeling idea of America. The we that came to an end that day wasn't just a group that lost their jobs but a group that lost a lot of their…

Like THE OFFICE.

Seriously, people, it's GREAT.

Attention Four Tet fans—new Caribou album this April!
A serious dance album! And the first single, "Odessa" is out now, and IT IS AMAZING!

Thanks for asking, IA —my debit card got stolen a while back and I just haven't switched my Squarespace (host) account over to a new card yet. Also, the fees have backed up, so I need to have the cash to do it. As for the lack of new content before it went offline, the column lost its home in print and with it my…

Great comments, all of you. I have LIES… but have yet to get around to it. I'll prioritize it now. And if you like smartly revisionist history, do check out HUMAN SMOKE. I can barely imagine reading that book and not being more of a pacifist afterward.

It's an imperfect book, but an essential one.

What did Lady GaGa do? Link!

This is so much fun.
It really is. Thanks, AV Club, for making this happen. How cool is it to read and analyze an intelligent book and then get to discuss it with intelligent, literate, thoughtful people? I should have joined in on this years ago.

Tom Mota
From the moment we heard about Tom Mota weeping at the funeral of Janine's little girl, Tom was the one in whom I was most interested. That, paired with his destruction-by-baseball-bat of his home and the obvious troubles with his wife and family, made him a fascinating contradiction of a character, to me.

Unreggie—

And the one guy in the audience laughing maniacally almost the entire time. He's cool.

Skullcrusherjones—

I enjoyed this so much.
I really did. I was still laughing uncomfortably about it minutes later.

I can't imagine a movie…
…that feels any longer than that trailer did.

Actually it was a video. This was 2000.