Good point and I do agree. I would definitely not say that Klosterman is un-self-aware. The reason I say he's less self-aware than DFW, though, is that once in a while I find Klosterman guilty of a solipsistic inability to comprehend any value system other than his own. The specific example that comes to mind is his…

For me it's gotta be "Here's To The Halcyon" by Old 97s, a jaunty number about a sailor desperately praying for rescue as his ship sinks to the bottom of the sea. It's pretty hilarious despite the grim subject matter:

Well, I don't know. I think it's like looking at the career of any given rock band. If you don't connect with them, you'll never see anything but whatever it is you don't like about them. I'm sure Rush has evolved over the years (haven't they?) but since I don't like Rush, one album sounds pretty much like the next.

Hmm, I can't really agree with this, unless the mere fact of being a white guy under 50 who overanalyzes stuff makes one a DFW wannabe. While there are some superficial similarities (informal voice, intellectual pop culture analysis), I think the two are opposites in their overall approach. DFW relentlessly drills…

I think the "science vs. magic" issue is a little muddled where this series is concerned, because magic in this world is different from magic in our world insofar as magic in Ooo is an actual thing that produces real physical effects. The reality of it doesn't depend on faith or superstition. It's not pseudoscience in…

I hate to be pedantic, but you forgot to add the e- in front of that.

OOH BURN!*

Da Butt

I guess it was a more innocent time, but as a teenager I was blown away by that insane opening — it was just so gleefully antisocial. I went in expecting a cheesy B-movie, and it was so much more clever and well executed than it should have been.

Saul has a sudden change of heart, decides to become a crusading lawyer for justice, and changes his name to Paul.

For the most part, I don't have a problem with an author's unpublished work or other writings being released after their death. If people want to buy this material, and the estate is willing to sell it, and there's no pretense about what it is, what's the harm? Even if it's crappy, I can't see it spoiling an author's…

I'm generally OK with posthumous releases, but the two "final" Dune books (meaning, Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune), as well as the rest of the non-Herbert novels, in my opinion, cross the line into possible fraud.

@avclub-e57f718840a576abbb40a7d046c4e3b0:disqus But as soon as you say "yes, but," you're opening the door. How can there be consensus on whether one author was crazy and therefore their wishes should be ignored? I for one think this kind of request is always mad and should be disregarded.

God yes for fucks sake.

Kids don't say anything anymore — they're just sitting there facing on their tweeters!

What I recall thinking while listening to this stuff in the 90s is that, yeah, it's shitty, but given that every decade has its shitty music, shitty 90s music probably isn't any shittier than shitty 80s/70s/etc music. I can't think of any 90s hits that were as ear-scrapingly awful as Starship's "We Built This City" or…

On their planet, people who capitalize "Der" are persecuted by people who don't capitalize "Der."

Bryan Adams should license your comment for a sequel to "Summer of '69."

But at least he didn't try to be cool by making sure everyone knew that he almost tried to be cool but then decided it would be cooler to not try to be cool. Because that would be uncool.

Yeah…the best way I can describe Hannibal is "enterpainment." Even emotionally dark series like Breaking Bad lighten the mood now and then, but most of this show's episodes are wall-to-wall grim and disturbing, without a single ray of light. And it's not even the physical violence and gore — so much of the horror is…