Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Hazards of Sea Travel

Posted on April 24, 2011 by midiguru

Strip away the veneer of civilized society, and as you near the human heart you find something much darker. William Golding explored that theme most famously in Lord of the Flies, which most of us read in high school. I … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, religion, writing | 1 Comment

No Exit

Posted on April 16, 2011 by midiguru

What if you had no alternative but to live out your life in the very narrow, unsatisfying society you were born into? Oops, that pretty much describes the human condition, doesn’t it? By that measure, Robert Silverberg’s novel The World … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, society & culture, writing | 2 Comments

Whimsy or Flimsy?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by midiguru

One advantage of having all of my books in boxes for the past two weeks (while moving) was that I kept one book out to read. Ordinarily, I might not have had the patience to slog clear through to the … Continue reading →

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Advertising Corrupts

Posted on April 10, 2011 by midiguru

For more than 25 years, I worked as an editor at a monthly magazine. My entire salary was paid, ultimately, by advertisers. It would be churlish of me to bite the hand that fed me. And yet, the destructive effects … Continue reading →

Posted in media, society & culture, writing | Tagged | 8 Comments

The Storytelling Impulse

Posted on April 1, 2011 by midiguru

Writing stories is fun. I’ve done a fair amount of it over the years, and have enjoyed a very modest bit of success. Nestled among the successes, however, have been … let’s not call them failures. Let’s say, there were … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, writing | 3 Comments