Category Archives: Beautiful Writing

“Wash Teeth If Any” — Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s Rulin’s from 1943

Posted on December 30, 2013 by kamper

Here is a list of Woody Guthrie’s new year’s resolutions from January 1, 1943. It’s a sound list for any year. 33. Wake Up And Fight 32. Make Up Your Mind 31. Love Everybody 30. Love pete 29. Love Papa … Continue reading →

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Things More Embarrassing Than a Bird Shitting on Your Head

Posted on July 26, 2012 by kamper

This piece by Natalie Bell in The Hairpin starts out light and then quickly turns into a freight train. Great, great writing. More of her writing here.

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The Jon Anderson Battle Stance

Posted on June 26, 2012 by kamper

The funniest line I’ve read in a novel in a long, long time appeared in The Devil You Know by Mike Carey. It’s a detective novel only our detective, Felix Castor, is a freelance exorcist who, in classic gumshoe fashion, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beautiful Writing, Humor, Literary-type Goings-on | 4 Comments

Why I Love Sugar, Reason #798

Posted on May 21, 2012 by kamper

If your tear ducts need a workout, go read Sugar’s latest over at The Rumpus. When I was eleven, my brother and sister and I went to visit our father. We traveled to the place he lived a thousand miles … Continue reading →

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I don’t enjoy this war one bit

Posted on February 21, 2012 by kamper

Today would have been David Foster Wallace’s 50th birthday. Letters of Note

Posted in Beautiful Writing, Literary-type Goings-on | 2 Comments

What do you think of the first page of my novel?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by kamper

Some incorrigible Internet wag went ahead and posted the first page of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest on Yahoo Answers under the title, “First Page of my book. What do you think?” (The whole post has since been deleted, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Beautiful Writing, Humor | 2 Comments

Snapshots from a rock ‘n’ roll marriage

Posted on March 10, 2011 by kamper

Here is a touching and unflinching portrait of a rock and roll marriage. It was written by Denise Grollmus, who was married to Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. She certainly pulls no punches, but another part of this piece’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Beautiful Writing, Happy Valley Hoedown | 1 Comment

Captain Beefheart’s Commandments for Guitar Players

Posted on December 18, 2010 by kamper

Don Van Vliet, AKA Captain Beefheart, died yesterday. Courtesy of WFMU’s Beware of the Blog, here are his ten commandments for guitar players. Good advice for anyone who creates. All are essential, but my favorites are these: 2. Your guitar … Continue reading →

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Beautiful Writing

Posted on December 11, 2010 by kamper

Patrick O’Brian on Gothenburg, Sweden, from The Surgeon’s Mate, book seven of the Aubrey/Maturin series. “Gothenburg, a melancholy town, most of it quite recently burnt, inhabited by tall, spare melancholiacs dressed in grey wool, much given to drinking and self-murder … Continue reading →

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