Incidentally this is very close to John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity" (which cites part of that passage from 1 Corinthians). True Detective is certainly exploring the contours of the negative aspect of American exceptionalism (of which Winthrop's sermon and its image of America as a "city on the hill" is…

u mad

Zack Handlen's reviews of this show are really disappointing.

lookit that sick ass panda

Also—I'm fairly certain none of the critical literature notes this either, though it's been awhile since I've read a lot of it.

@ The Kid

Hells yeah to the Nathanael West, Mrs Lonelyhearts is really great. And I'm excited to read this Willeford novel, I've never read any of his stuff but it sounds fantastic.

@ Rowan: it's a term first coined by Derrida, though I'm not sure in which of his texts; perhaps "Spurs", which is in part a reading of gender politics within Nietzsche, stemming from an analysis of the opening line of "Beyond Good and Evil". "Spurs" is actually a very good, if oftentimes obtuse (it's Derrida, after…

@ TomWaits:

Well, phallogocentrism is a philosophical term, not one from psychoanalysis or literary theory. And while it is definitely (and intentionally, I would say) unwieldy, it refers to both the privileging of writing over speech in Western thought (i.e. logocentrism) as well as the privileging of the masculine in the…

@ leeharvery: I'm not criticizing the writers themselves (I think all are amazing and I enjoy reading and studying their works greatly), nor Bloom's choice of them specifically, I used this as example to critique the fact that Bloom calls for a depoliticization of literature/literary study at the same time that he…

I find Bloom's denigration of politicized readings of literature (and a politicized approach to literature) hugely problematic, though I do quite enjoy his literary criticism for its intelligence, insight, and obvious love for literature. But the death of the academy he bemoans: I think it's good that this academy is…

That's an intriguing reading regarding why the kid might have chosen not to kill the judge when he had the chance, Farmer John. What I find interesting is that many members of the gang seem to represent particular strategies of resistance to the judge; I think it's correct to say that Tobin sets himself up in…

I stand behind my desire to see pumpkins fucked

Archduke Fancypants is right, Suttree is one crushing book. Also, for any of you enamored of McCarthy's language, Suttree is about as McCarthyian as it gets; it's also incredibly, laugh out loud funny at times (just read the pumpkin fucking scene, or basically anything with Harrogate in it to see what I mean).

Mistah Judge