Counterpoint: I don't have HBO, which allows me to avoid many hot naked women, which is pro-woman and anti-sexist, I think. Also, to avoid Lena Dunham, or whatever her name is.

The review looks about like the review I'd write after having seen the trailer…if I hadn't watched the movie. On the other hand, it may just be that predictable of a movie.

The review looks about like the review I'd write after having seen the trailer…if I hadn't watched the movie. On the other hand, it may just be that predictable of a movie.

I haven't read his books, but the fact that he's written them makes me like him. I'm not sure why the same thing isn't true of James Franco, but hey. Ambition's a good thing, sometimes.

I haven't read his books, but the fact that he's written them makes me like him. I'm not sure why the same thing isn't true of James Franco, but hey. Ambition's a good thing, sometimes.

I imagine a reviewer trying to pan the book on NPR—"But what Mr. Binet attempts to accomplish in [garbled throat-clearing ridiculousness] is ultimately unsuccessful"—and sounding so stupid as to invalidate the reviewer's opinion. Consider it an insurance policy.

I imagine a reviewer trying to pan the book on NPR—"But what Mr. Binet attempts to accomplish in [garbled throat-clearing ridiculousness] is ultimately unsuccessful"—and sounding so stupid as to invalidate the reviewer's opinion. Consider it an insurance policy.

I thought it was the Lorenz thing, too, although I too could be wrong.

I thought it was the Lorenz thing, too, although I too could be wrong.

Just lucky, I guess.

Just lucky, I guess.

What's the chance of another Lindsey Lohan update today? I'm hoping high, because last night, on Bret Easton Ellis's twitter feed, he confirmed that she'll be acting opposite pornstar James Deen in his new Paul Schraeder-directed movie. Is this a good thing for her?

What's the chance of another Lindsey Lohan update today? I'm hoping high, because last night, on Bret Easton Ellis's twitter feed, he confirmed that she'll be acting opposite pornstar James Deen in his new Paul Schraeder-directed movie. Is this a good thing for her?

@MajorWedgie:disqus You might've seen this review of TKO, but I thought it went a long way toward "explaining" some of Aue's crazier personal affects.

@MajorWedgie:disqus You might've seen this review of TKO, but I thought it went a long way toward "explaining" some of Aue's crazier personal affects.

@avclub-81f9c5d05b38e97bc1000e06526c2557:disqus —I really like Walker Percy, and read some of his books during college. In fact, Percy's idea of the writer as the cultural diagnostician (the analogy is with Percy's own old profession, as a M.D.) is pretty nearly what I look for in literature.

@avclub-81f9c5d05b38e97bc1000e06526c2557:disqus —I really like Walker Percy, and read some of his books during college. In fact, Percy's idea of the writer as the cultural diagnostician (the analogy is with Percy's own old profession, as a M.D.) is pretty nearly what I look for in literature.

I agree that it's sort of an impediment for him as sci-fi writer, but I think of Bradbury more as a poet. His impressionism lends itself better to accounts of direct sensual reckoning than to conceptual prowess. Maybe this is why he was my favourite childhood writer, but I don't read him as much anymore. Still, a…

I agree that it's sort of an impediment for him as sci-fi writer, but I think of Bradbury more as a poet. His impressionism lends itself better to accounts of direct sensual reckoning than to conceptual prowess. Maybe this is why he was my favourite childhood writer, but I don't read him as much anymore. Still, a…

Let me put it another way, since I'd guessed that I'd get mostly negative feedback ("philistine," "don't fucking comment if you're not interested, no one's forcing you to read this review"—that sort of thing), but can't shake what I feel to be the central troubling point that I have, at this point of my life, with…