The Weekly Screed

Booksellers and booksmellers

By David Benjamin | 06/14/2017 | Comments Off on Booksellers and booksmellers

Booksellers and booksmellers by David Benjamin “I know every book of mine by its scent, and I have but to put my nose between its pages to be reminded of all sorts of things.” — George Gissing MADISON, Wis. — I started smelling books — every serious reader does this — at the Tomah Public Library,…

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The Whole Shebang

By David Benjamin | 06/07/2017 | Comments Off on The Whole Shebang

The Whole Shebang by David Benjamin “We bought the URL gofccyourself.com. If you simply go there, it will land you straight on this [FCC public comment] page, where all you have to do is hit ‘Express’ and ‘Comment,’ telling [FCC chief] Ajit Pai that you specifically support net neutrality backed by Title II oversight of…

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Breaking good, eventually

By David Benjamin | 06/01/2017 | Comments Off on Breaking good, eventually

Breaking good, eventually by David Benjamin “I was sure I was going to get that scholarship. My dad of course was sure I wasn’t. When I didn’t, he was real understanding, you know. He loves to do that. He loves to be understanding when I fail.” — Cyril, in Breaking Away MADISON, Wis.— Movie scenes haunt…

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Mythic pizza

By David Benjamin | 05/25/2017 |

Mythic pizza by David Benjamin “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” — Yogi Berra MADISON, Wis.— So, there I was — about a month ago — standing on the sidewalk on a clammy night in Taipei, hip-deep amongst the hip, the young and the trendy, watching…

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What if Mrs. Murphy had been there?

By David Benjamin | 05/18/2017 | Comments Off on What if Mrs. Murphy had been there?

What if Mrs. Murphy had been there? by David Benjamin “… Trump’s senior advisers fear leaving him alone in meetings with foreign leaders out of concern he might speak out of turn. General McMaster, in particular, has tried to insert caveats or gentle corrections into conversations when he believes the president is straying off topic…

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"Keeping a book"

By David Benjamin | 05/13/2017 | Comments Off on "Keeping a book"

“Keeping a book” by David Benjamin “A neighbor had a score sheet from the last game between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. He recalled the whole game inning by inning, just looking at the scorecard. It was almost like watching a rabbi read scripture. Here he was recalling the whole game. It was…

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Why I read fiction

By David Benjamin | 05/06/2017 | Comments Off on Why I read fiction

Why I read fiction by David Benjamin “The alarming flaw in his psychological equipment — although in the American history he would write with his life nothing would appear to be flawed — was that the terrain he viewed and judged and acted upon could have been that of another planet. It had no connection…

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Back home, in the Shinjuku death maze

By David Benjamin | 04/29/2017 | Comments Off on Back home, in the Shinjuku death maze

Back home, in the Shinjuku death maze by David Benjamin CHIGASAKI, Japan — On the streets of Tokyo, population 20 million, facing waves of 80-year-old kamikaze bicyclists wearing surgical masks and wielding umbrellas like bayonets, watching with wonder as an office lady in a pencil skirt sprints through traffic on three-inch heels with a stack…

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It's a holey whole hole and it just – plain – isn't

By David Benjamin | 04/21/2017 |

It’s a holey whole hole and it just – plain – isn’t by David Benjamin “For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.” ―…

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Open Sesame

By David Benjamin | 04/12/2017 | Comments Off on Open Sesame

Open Sesame by David Benjamin WASHINGTON — I thought it would be tough getting onto the White House grounds until I asked for help from the sneakiest political insider in D.C., an old friend from the Nixon/Agnew days who goes by the name of Kafka. Kafka said, “Hey, no sweat. We’ll just waltz in through…

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