a diversion * a book * a study of the collision of fiction and reality * a message from the future * a work of pop culture accretion, from Michael Clayton to poetry to novels to Squid Game * a work of deep pessimism * a Covid diary, tracking the ups and downs of four of America’s worst years * a meditation on evil in the movies * a rumination on the work of John Carpenter * a reflection on the work of Jack Kirby * an exploration of They Live, Halloween III, Prince of Darkness, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Society, and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, among other movies * a strange, fragmented memoir * a working through of the author’s ambiguities, contradictions, and rage * a contemplation of the end of narrative * a glimpse into how good and evil battle it out in pop culture * a damning indictment of Trump’s first term * a message from the past * a gnostic mess * a work of great optimism * a book * a distraction