Categories
Chronicles of Crystal Britches

Dentist Examines Gift Horse

Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock DATELINE MIRTHOLOGY — That would be me, a metaphorical dentist, just for the morning. Even though as a journalist, ethics forbids me from volunteering in politics I have over the years taken on other tasks outside the newsroom. It’s a nice way to meet interesting people, and one actually gets […]

Categories
Mr. Boo Klist

Epistolary in Your Pocket

Book report: The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland Is that epistolary in your pocket, or am I just glad to see a writer pull it off? Yes, I am impressed, not only for a novel comprising journal entries and letters — and e-mails — but also a novel within a novel. Discovering a solid comic […]

Categories
Body, Home, Street

In My Inbox

Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock This is a “found poem.” That’s like “found art,” where the artist roots around an alley or someplace and puts what he finds into some kind of combination. Here are lines — spelling, capitalization and punctuation intact — found: In My Inbox,

Categories
Mr. Boo Klist

No Country for Old Dudes

You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” — Uncle Ellis, No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy Book report: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Yes, I read the book first, finishing it a few hours before the matinee. It’s a contender for the decade’s Great American […]

Categories
American Culture

We Ran Her Off the Road

You can’t have a dope business without dopers.” — Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock Proposed laws about paparazzi are worse-than-useless. There are already laws on stalking, creating a public nuisance and any number of other categories that would apply and hold up in court […]

Categories
American Culture

Eat Cancer in Our Lifetime

Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock One of the outcomes of a Democratic presidential victory come November likely will be national health care sooner not later. And one of the outcomes of national health care will be a sudden and welcome drop in pretentious fundraisers. Nearly nine years ago I wrote an offensive column. I apologized […]