My Back Pages

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog… and to be honest, I don’t expect to ever post as much here as I did on the original Guy’s Library. I just would rather devote my writing time to other projects. But I still plan on using the site to share my essays, reviews, and stories. With that in mind, I wanted to highlight a couple older pieces from elsewhere on the web, in case you didn’t see them the first time around. Links to all of these (and more) can also be found on the Essays page.

My piece “The Ends Commands the Means: Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary” is a pretty good place to start. It looks at the life and career of one of the most interesting political writers of the twentieth century, journalist/novelist/activist/revolutionary/dissident Victor Serge. (I’ve actually written about Serge a couple times.)

George Orwell’s work served as my primary introduction to political writing, and in many ways set me down the path to becoming a writer. As an adult, though, I find myself reading him a little differently. My piece “Getting to ‘No’: Snowball’s Chance, Animal Farm, and “Exemplary Truth” looks at how my views of Orwell’s work have evolved over the years.

I don’t always read political literature, of course, so after that I’d encourage you to check out “A Calm Place to Think: On Reading the Classics,” where I try and figure out the place of “classic” books in the digital era (and try to make sense out of my own reading habits).

The essay “Fragmentary: Writing in a Digital Age” is probably the best expression of my views on contemporary writing. It’s also my first attempt to look at how information technology interacts with the arts.

And finally, there’s my piece “More Real to Us: The Art of Susan Sontag,” which looks at the life and work of one of my favorite essayists and critics.

After that… well, it’s up to you. If you’re interested in reading even more of my work, just click on the tabs at the top of the page and dive in.