For a long time, writing meant the long haul: fiction drafts that asked for stamina, immersion, and a kind of deep solitude. Then depression hit, and that whole approach stopped working. The page didn’t feel like possibility anymore—it felt like a room I couldn’t enter. What surprised me was how ten-minute plays opened a doorContinue reading “Ten-Minute Plays Brought Me Back”
Tag Archives: literature
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 1 and 2 as a Modern The Misanthrope
Recently, I’ve been rewatching old seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and what surprised me this time wasn’t just how funny Season 1 and 2 still are—it was how classical the comedy feels. I expected the usual things: Larry David picking at social rules, minor misunderstandings turning into full-scale disasters, everyone getting offended over something tiny. But watching itContinue reading “Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 1 and 2 as a Modern The Misanthrope”
Hamnet (2025) — The Most Emotional Film I’ve Seen in Years
I don’t say this lightly: Hamnet might be the most immersive and emotional film I’ve seen in years. Not because it’s manipulative, not because it tries to wring tears out of you with dramatic speeches or swelling music—but because it does the opposite. It stays quiet. It stays human. Directed by Chloé Zhao and co-written with Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet is a slow,Continue reading “Hamnet (2025) — The Most Emotional Film I’ve Seen in Years”
Who Gets to Speak–James by Percival Everett
Years ago—long before James existed as a book—I taught Huckleberry Finn the way I had been taught to teach it. Carefully. Respectfully. With all the right caveats. I told students it was complicated. I told them it was “of its time.” I told them Mark Twain was trying. All of that is true. None of it ever quite settledContinue reading “Who Gets to Speak–James by Percival Everett”
date night with ten min plays–the cary grant of san luis–jan 25 (video)
cultural conversations with john paul jaramillo at lincoln land community college library–wed oct 9 (video)
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 22
Join us this month as we talk about Mat Johnson’s award-winning 2015 novel Loving Day, asatirical look at contemporary USA’s engagement with race, identity, class, and culture.And of course, one-star reviews from Goodreads. –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The Lion and the Unicorn and her essays, fiction, and scholarly workContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 22”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 21
And we’re back! We skipped a month but in this episode we discuss the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. John Paul discusses his love affair with the book and his awe in the structure, and Deborah discusses cultural myth, the sacred feminine, and cultural heroes. And, of course, we discuss Goodreads’ one-star reviews. –DeborahContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 21”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 20
Join us a week late for our April discussion of our March pick of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. We talk about confined women, Jane Austen Hallmark movies, cozy horror, and of course, John Paul’s obsession with one-star Goodreads reviews! –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The LionContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 20”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 19
Join us two weeks late for our February 2024 discussion of Ray Bradbury’s 1950 classic The Martian Chronicles. We talk novel-in-stories, colonialism themes, Sci-Fi vs fantasy, and of course, John Paul’s obsession with one-star reviews! –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The Lion and the Unicorn and her essays, fiction, andContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 19”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 18
It’s January and we discuss the Newbery Medal winning book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, a fantasy designed for Middle Grade readers. “In which we reach certain agreements about the appeal of the storyline and themes and agree to disagree about some of the writerly stylistics.” Who is this book reallyContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 18”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 16
Reading Books Together: A Podcast with Deborah Brothers & John Paul Jaramillo Join us as we discuss Terry Tempest Williams’ Erosion: Essays of Undoing (2019). November seems to be a good month to reflect and while many of the thirty or so pieces in this collection show how disturbing and chaotic the world can be, Williams remindsContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 16”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 15
Reading Books Together: A Podcast with Deborah Brothers & John Paul Jaramillo Join us this month as we read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, John Paul’s pick for our second annual October “Spooktacular” podcast. Deborah gives three reasons why the book is worthy of reading and more than three reasons why she never wants to have to readContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 15”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 14
Join us this month as we talk about Good Night, Irene: A Novel, Luis Alberto Urrea’s fictionalized account of his mother’s WWII service with the American Red Cross. It is clear Urrea is a poet at heart and his rich descriptions help anchor the reader into Irene and Dorothy’s world and what it takes toContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 14”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 13
Join John Paul Jaramillo and Deborah Brothers for the July edition of “Reading Books Together,” a monthly podcast where we talk about a book we’ve read. We focus our discussion on recurring themes in the life and short fiction of Texas-born writer Katherine Anne Porter, winner of a Pulitzer, a National Book Award, a GoldContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 13”