"Six Authors in Search of a Character, Part 4: Mickey Spillane" in ZYZZYVA

 The fourth installment of my ongoing essay series in ZYZZYVA Literary Magazine is now live––the series is called "Six Authors in Search of a Character" and it explores the unusual and complicated psychology of writers portraying on screen characters they created in print. Part 4 analyzes Mickey Spillane's tackling of the role of his iconic private eye Mike Hammer in THE GIRL HUNTERS (1963). If you missed the first three installments of the series (on Stephen King's appearance in CREEPSHOW, Richard Wright's role in NATIVE SON, and Irvine Welsh's role in TRAINSPOTTING, you can read them here).

"Obsessions: Authoritarian Kitsch" Online at ZYZZYVA

A new short essay of mine called "Authoritarian Kitsch" is available to read online at ZYZZYVA, as a part of their ongoing "Obsessions" series. It takes on some of my more complicated feelings regarding camp entertainment––and when it overlaps with fascist mythmaking.

ZYZZYVA is a San Francisco literary journal, founded in 1985, that has published work by writers such as Haruki Murakami, Amy Tan, and Ursula K. Le Guin.