In the publishing world, there’s nothing more valuable than the power of recommendations, especially if thousands of people are making them. They drive page traffic and sell ads. I might be at the anal-retentive end of the spectrum, but publishers love people like me, reading their stories and sharing them with friends. They think that’s [...]
All posts in category Reading
The Day Sharing Died: How Publishers Are Ruining Reading, Facebook, and Friendship
Posted by Stefan on April 9, 2012
http://kam.ph/2012/04/09/washington-post-social-reader-is-ruining-facebook/
The Curse of Tom Wolfe
Ms. Karenina’s story reflects a growing trend among Russian women who, fed up with their aging husbands, are leaving their families, taking up with handsome young men and, when things go badly, eventually falling under moving trains… Michael Shapiro, Columbia Journalism Review, 2008
Posted by Stefan on November 18, 2011
http://kam.ph/2011/11/18/the-curse-of-tom-wolfe/
Sayonara
Outside, the stars had darkened and it had started to drizzle, so the prospect of a nightcap was pleasing, especially if I should have to return on foot to my own hotel, which was a mile distant from the Miyako. I poured some vodka; Brando declined to join me. However, he subsequently reached for my [...]
Posted by Stefan on July 12, 2011
http://kam.ph/2011/07/12/sayonara/
Everything’s a Story
After reading Gene Weingarten’s two Pulitzer-winning stories (here and here) and then the astonishing “The Great Zucchini” (which Erik Wemple of the Washington City Paper called “the greatest feature story ever written”), I bought his anthology, The Fiddler in the Subway. All great so far. On the flip side of the idea that everything can [...]
Posted by Stefan on April 30, 2011
http://kam.ph/2011/04/30/everythings-a-story/
Cheap Thrills
I love things that are simple and unironic. Unfortunately, many of these things are often considered cheesy (Eurodance music) or easily exploitable (religion). Separated from the noxious habits and abuses that surround them, both of those things are thoroughly enjoyable. But when my hatred of irony intersects with my love of travel (read: running from [...]
Posted by Stefan on April 15, 2010
http://kam.ph/2010/04/15/cheap-thrills/
The Guantánamo “Suicides”
I received the latest issue of Harper’s in the mail on Friday, and settled in to read it last night. If you still need proof that the magazine provides some of the best investigative reporting out there—and that our military governance is seriously frightening—you must read Scott Horton’s article on Guantánamo. It provides a constant [...]
Posted by Stefan on February 14, 2010
http://kam.ph/2010/02/14/the-guantanamo-suicides/