Philip Athans > Recent Status Updates

The chapter on suicide was… rough.

Is it narcissistic to say I love the way Grant Snider thinks when clearly he thinks exactly like me?

About books, at least.

I might just hang in with this amazing book and put an exclamation point on the ned of my 2025 reading challenge this afternoon.

"But is it perhaps childish or morbid to terrify oneself with visions of a totalitarian future?"

"No doubt alcohol, tobacco, and so forth, are things that a saint might avoid, but sainthood is also a thing that human beings must avoid."

I don't drink or smoke but I'll keep my "and so forth" to myself.

“Shooting an Elephant” is disturbing and sad.

The binding just cracked as I was reading--a minor disaster I hope I've properly fixed with a little (but maybe too much…?) glue.

Perry is stealth building a fleet of FTL warships in different factories only making incomprehensible parts not knowing what they’ll eventually do when assembled:

"You see what undreamed of potential can be put into reality by mankind once they forget their differences. Of course, the world does not have any idea about all this, and it might be wise to keep this information to yourself for the time being."

Just love it--Di Fate was one of the science fiction artists that most fed my young imagination.

“The Art of Donald McGill”

Society has always to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice.

Verily, ‘tis the Mighty Thor mighty indeed!

Spider-Man? Excelsior!

The Hulk is “incredible” indeed!

The Fantastic Four was, and always will be, the world's greatest comic magazine--'NUFF SAID!!

Didn’t actually read all of the very long essay on Dickens. I’ve really never read Dickens but mean to, and this was basically 50+ pages of spoilers.

Might owe myself some time with less disturbing books in the new year.

Crash is making me think about how all of the most disturbing books I've ever read have been written in first person. This is how to properly convey the descent into madness.

I thought I understood how disturbing Giger's work could be, but this book is showing me images I've never seen before and… seriously: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Ah, so just discovered that the author "Curt Clark" is a pen name for Donald A. Westlake, which explains a lot about how good this is while the "author" seems to be a ghost.

WHY is this not still in print?

Yeah, this weird, obscure book is crazy good.