Read The Virgin Suicides if you want to keep up with the Eugenides. It's a slim book, but fascinating. Also, the movie adaptation is mediocre, and doesn't quite get to what made the book great.

I found Infinite Jest to be a tedious and punishing read, so I never read any other David Foster Wallace. I sort of chalked him up as the sort of author that English majors read so they can tell the rest of us how much smarter they are than me. Which is true, but still… rude.

I think that East of West may be the best comic series ever. I love it that much. Hopefully, it can stick the landing, but the setup has been amazing.

I dropped WicDiv this year. I hit a big plot twist and realized I didn't give a single damn about the character. Or any character.

I tend to read trades only, so I always feel like I'm almost a year behind. I'm a little disappointed in the write up for Southern Bastards was done by someone who didn't seem to enjoy the series all that much. As a southern white guy who grew up steeped in all of that mythos, the comic really hits my sweet spot. I…

I resisted Injection at first because I felt it would take Ellis' focus away from Trees, which I love. Then I read it and now I have two new favorites. Ellis can do no wrong right now.

The one from the 9:30 Club with the Gossip? Holy crap, is that cover great.

Thanks for the list. I think one of the barriers to literature's place in pop culture is that it takes more time to read a book. It's hard to find someone who is reading at your pace outside of a book club. Though this makes it easier to circle back and catch up on older releases.

I didn't quote that part of Sumner's remarks, I quote the awesome part. But he made fun of a guy who just had a stroke on the Senate floor, which you really shouldn't do to someone… even a slaveholder.

Sure, it was about principle: the principle to discriminate against minorities and women. It's not just about money, it was about bigotry, too. It's not like they totally lack political ideals.

It's truly glorious. I recommend it highly.

Which is bizarre, because Reagan was barely a Christian and Carter was a devout evangelical.

To give Charles Sumner credit, he earned that beating from Preston Brooks, as he even MADE FUN OF THE WAY HE TALKED AFTER A STROKE. That is pure, undistilled hatred. Even in fancypants 19th century language, you can see the smackdown:

This is the single biggest issue in American politics. Almost everyone has a safe seat. It's abhorrent.

I think Wilmore takes the role as the only (American) black late night host really seriously. It makes him easy to write off as "the black guy", and many conservatives have, but his show really sparks when it deals with racial issues. There is real righteous fury there. And I also think Mike Yard is the breakout star…

My dad was a former folkie who never got over Dylan plugging in. We listened to Pete Seeger and maybe Simon & Garfunkel in the car. About as far as he got into rock n roll was Jerry Lee Lewis or Buddy Holly. So, in our house, Dad Rock is the Pixies and Fugazi, because that's what this dad listens to.

I would say Motown is just simply great. It's not like something has to be a grad thesis to be "smart pop". I mean, I'll defend Michael Jackson and Madonna as smarter pop than today's current crop.

Yeah, it could be me getting old, but I find "pop" to be much worse and there's been a critically rallying behind bad pop music. It's as if movie critics rallied behind empty blockbusters and were declaring Transformers the peak of the form while writing off smaller, indie fare.

I want ZebedeeDooDah to start writing the recaps. What a great summation of the power dynamics of the show.

The mother is what makes the scene so horrific. Her introduction about how God has delivered her baby back to her… Jesus, that was dark. It's bad enough he is short two kidneys and has had a stroke, but he's now stuck in the house with a controlling mother who he seemed to have spent a lifetime trying to get away…