I agree. I've read a few books written in what I'd call "cinema-prose," the type of writing that's literally no more than a prosification of what could just as well be a film script. If I'm reading something that feels like it's that simple, I'd rather watch a movie. Books do a lot of things better than movies, but…

True story: I met a guy who claimed to be Ferrara's cousin at the Scientology Visitor's Center in L.A. He was a motorcyclist with a stars-and-stripes bandanna who, despite claiming him, called his cousin Abel a "sick S.O.B."

That's true, @ssoldner:disqus, but I'm not certain if this is a bug of the text or a feature. I'd bet that there must have been at least one editor along the way who noticed how needy/weak Lipsky, the character, must have seemed, and that it was some sort of decision to allow those elements to remain as a testament…

But look, it's cool, we're here on the Internet, listening to the voices of the people! To the sad, angry voices of such wrong, stupid people.

I don't know what I expected, but this is a sad note to end on.

I really doubt they'll recommend it here, but The Passion of the Christ is a great film that houses a repugnant ideology (to me, at least). It's amazing how the passion story can be made into body horror, if, like Mel, you get very literal about it. (Fun Fact: David Edelstein, when he coined the term "torture porn,"…

Psst, they're not Nazis. Have you watched this movie?

It's a scrappy number of millions.

I just think it's funny you've brought Spike, because, after many long hours of thought, the black artist who seems most like Mailer (in his ballsiness, in his ability to pick out an insane opinion and ride it through to the end) is obviously Kanye.

You don't have to read very far until you get the answer to that one. His "research" for many books has involved: shacking up w/ a prostitute until the, uh, culture has been assimilated.

All this good feeling makes me think that people really do have the capacity to forgive! (But seriously: Pt. 1 was awful. Just don't.)

Just finished that one last night. It's an interesting book, but it's not very true to the Internet as any of us have experienced it. The assumptions that everything on the Internet will one day be a) relentlessly positive and b) not filled w/ porn are two things that didn't really seem accurate, even for a SF…

It's sorta telling that the "unsung" list contains a National Book Award winner (The Unwinding). I mean, that might not have been a huge bestseller, but it's not exactly underground.

I'm sad to agree. From the first time I saw the redesign, I thought: hmm, it's strange that, with articles that look like pictures, it's tough to tell "content" from advertisements. Then, thinking again, it dawned on me that that might be exactly the point.

To quote Kanye in a podcast interview by Bret Easton Ellis (yes, this is a real thing): "You know, on those airport forms where they ask my profession, I sometimes just put down 'creative genius,' except usually I don't, either cuz it takes too long, or cuz I forget how to spell genius. Kinda ironic, huh!"

Fredo Kardashian, he dead.

To be fair, Slate's redesign was truly shite. At least here you don't have to click again to see the comments.

Like…Scott Pilgrim shocked? That one stands out as the low mark on unexpected grades, round heres.

Me, I have my butler read these comments to me, and I have him transcribe my thoughts here as a stenographic exercise.

huhh un ohh wha aaaaaarrrrgh huh okaaaaay CAR FUCK? rrrrrahaaa (sigh) (siiiiiiiiiigh) oooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaa let it stop god help