Reading

Mary Gordon’s Spending: A Different Breed of Fantasy Lit

Mary Gordon’s Spending: A Different Breed of Fantasy Lit

Several years back, I read a book that was unlike nearly any other I’d read before in one striking way: nothing particularly bad happened in it. The protagonist experienced minor internal struggles and dilemmas, but basically, everything came up roses. This felt like a major departure from Great Literature as I knew it…

Japanese Boy Band Saves the World: Postcolonial Masculinities in Final Fantasy XV

Japanese Boy Band Saves the World: Postcolonial Masculinities in Final Fantasy XV

Only in a Japanese RPG can a boy band save the world from the empire and its demonic biotechnological army. In Final Fantasy XV, four male friends use the empire’s language of violence to decolonize the kingdom of darkness. Somewhere, Fanon’s ghost is drinking sake and smoking Peace cigarettes.

A Dream or No

A Dream or No

It seems a pretty commonplace thing to say that great art results from heartbreak. There are countless examples in painting, music, and literature. Sometimes it’s a series of hardships that inspired an artist. Sometimes a direct line can be drawn back to a single event that brought about a sudden surge in artistic activity.

The Ambiguous Epiphany

The Ambiguous Epiphany

When I was a child growing up Catholic, the Feast of the Epiphany struck me as an afterthought. December was all about the thrilling run-up of Advent, characterized by candle lighting and singing at mass and by lists for Santa and chocolate-filled calendars at home. Finally there was the tremendous climax of Christmas.