Archives for 2005

– Advance paid in 1973 to Stephen King by Doubleday for Carrie: $2,500

– The same amount in today’s dollars, courtesy of Inflation Calculator: $11,038.50

(Source: Stephen King, On Writing)

“To watch King Lear is to approach the recognition that there is indeed no meaning to life and that there are limits to human understanding. So we lay down a heavy burden and are made humble. This is what Shakespearian tragedy accomplishes for us.”

Peter Ackroyd, Shakespeare: The Biography

“To watch King Lear is to approach the recognition that there is indeed no meaning to life and that there are limits to human understanding. So we lay down a heavy burden and are made humble. This is what Shakespearian tragedy accomplishes for us.”

Peter Ackroyd, Shakespeare: The Biography

So where have I been?

In no particular order: at the office, watching baseball in bars, at the godforsaken Bears-Ravens game in the cold stubborn rain (mitigating factors: disenchanted traveling Baltimore fans in the next row coldly assessing the state of the game, viz., “This is like watching the Ravens play the Ravens”; national anthem performed by Styx), subsequently in bed for the better part of a day, to the airport to pick up a friend who stayed here for several days, at the movies seeing something wicked this way hop, watching the 8-1 Red Wings at a kind friend’s house when they were on OLN, watching the 9-1 Red Wings here when they were on local television (all leading up to watching the 10-1 Red Wings in the flesh this Saturday at the United Center, whee!), eating out at the Twisted Spoke, Lula Cafe, and the Original Pancake House, getting my hair cut, to Best Buy to purchase a Tivo, back to Best Buy the next week to enable a friend to do the same…and, far, far too much of the time, messing around in the Puzzle Boat (thank you, Eric. I think). Whew.

More relevantly to the concerns of this blog, I popped my head in at the Lit Blog Co-op today, in the comments, to join Golden Rule Jones and C. Max McGee in their enlightening discussion of Nadeem Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers (which you really should read). I may have a review essay in print this weekend, in which case I’ll post a link. And in the coming days, I hope to ease myself back into regular blogging again. Until soon.

So where have I been?

In no particular order: at the office, watching baseball in bars, at the godforsaken Bears-Ravens game in the cold stubborn rain (mitigating factors: disenchanted traveling Baltimore fans in the next row coldly assessing the state of the game, viz., “This is like watching the Ravens play the Ravens”; national anthem performed by Styx), subsequently in bed for the better part of a day, to the airport to pick up a friend who stayed here for several days, at the movies seeing something wicked this way hop, watching the 8-1 Red Wings at a kind friend’s house when they were on OLN, watching the 9-1 Red Wings here when they were on local television (all leading up to watching the 10-1 Red Wings in the flesh this Saturday at the United Center, whee!), eating out at the Twisted Spoke, Lula Cafe, and the Original Pancake House, getting my hair cut, to Best Buy to purchase a Tivo, back to Best Buy the next week to enable a friend to do the same…and, far, far too much of the time, messing around in the Puzzle Boat (thank you, Eric. I think). Whew.

More relevantly to the concerns of this blog, I popped my head in at the Lit Blog Co-op today, in the comments, to join Golden Rule Jones and C. Max McGee in their enlightening discussion of Nadeem Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers (which you really should read). I may have a review essay in print this weekend, in which case I’ll post a link. And in the coming days, I hope to ease myself back into regular blogging again. Until soon.

I’m temporarily preoccupied with writing for money. Excuse me while I earn a living! You’ll find lots of places to visit in the right-hand column, assuming you’ve already read everything in this column.

See you tomorrow.

I’m temporarily preoccupied with writing for money. Excuse me while I earn a living! You’ll find lots of places to visit in the right-hand column, assuming you’ve already read everything in this column.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway and off-Broadway shows, updated each Thursday. In all cases, I either gave these shows strongly favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal when they opened or saw and liked them some time in the past year (or both). For more information, click on the title.

Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.

BROADWAY:

– Absurd Person Singular (comedy, PG, adult subject matter, closes Dec. 18, reviewed here)

– Avenue Q* (musical, R, adult subject matter, strong language, one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)

– Chicago* (musical, R, adult subject matter, sexual content, fairly strong language)

– Dirty Rotten Scoundrels* (musical, R, extremely vulgar, reviewed here)

– Doubt* (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, implicit sexual content, reviewed here)

– Fiddler on the Roof (musical, G, one scene of mild violence but otherwise family-friendly, closes Jan. 8, reviewed here)

– The Light in the Piazza* (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter and a brief bedroom scene, closes Mar. 26, reviewed here)

– Sweet Charity (musical, PG-13, lots of cutesy-pie sexual content, reviewed here)

– The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee* (musical, PG-13, mostly family-friendly but contains a smattering of strong language and a production number about an unwanted erection, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:

– Orson’s Shadow (drama, PG-13, adult subject matter, very strong language, closes Dec. 31, reviewed here)

– Slava’s Snowshow (performance art, G, child-friendly, reviewed here)

CLOSING THIS WEEKEND:

– The Caterers (drama, R, violence, strong language, explicit sexual situations, reviewed here, closes Sunday)

– Sides: The Fear Is Real… (sketch comedy, PG, some strong language, reviewed here, closes Sunday)