For Instant Christmas Spirit, Blow Here
A Seasonal Kalder Klassik: Four years ago, I spent Christmas in Texas for the first time. Shortly beforehand I’d been driving around in the desert out West, and I have vivid memo
Does Putin’s New Literary Assembly Bode ill for Russian Writers?
Pushkin: Not a Belgian Russia has a long history of revering writers; it also has a long history of censoring, exiling, corrupting and, on occasion, killing writers. The Tsarist a
Review: Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life by Jonathan Sperber
In his introduction to Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life, Jonathan Sperber stresses that he doesn’t believe Marx was a prophet or that he has much to say to our age at all. H
Russia Bans the Koran
While Geert Wilders and assorted online provocateurs may like to talk about banning the Koran as an extremist text, few take the idea seriously. Well, except in Russia perhaps, whe
Review: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Pietrolino
Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of the most unique creators in comics, drawing upon a biography, range of interests, and incredibly fertile imagination that makes him truly inimitable.
Vanishing Act: How Lou Reed Did Death
Although he may not have racked up the body count of a Nick Cave or Johnny Cash, the late Lou Reed sang about death more often than many a popular musician. Indeed, he did it often
The Strange World of Your Dreams
“Comics are more like dreams than any other medium,” says “comics archaeologist” Craig Yoe in his introduction to The Strange World of Your Dreams, the latest book iss
Turkmenistan: Proudly Maintaining the Tradition of Dictator Literature
At the dawn of this century, the late and unlamented dictator of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov became a favorite of news editors hungry for weird stories to fill column inches. S