Dallas Robbins

Pardon the Dust

Over the next few days or so I'm going to re-work the design of my site.  I'm figuring out a plan to blog regularly and also has more long-form online-only content, in addition to my freelance print work.

I have some ideas kicking around in my head to focus my site on a few select subjects, literature and art mostly, with a more focused interpretive approach that I don't normally get to explore in my City Weekly stuff.

The past couple years have only been a brief appetizer for what I would like to do in 2010.  So, we will see how it goes.

Random Thoughts on MFA Writing Programs, Ponzi Scemes, and Workmanlike Novels

I have occasionally pondered on the possibility of getting an MFA in creative writing.  The idea has never really appealed to me, especially weighing the cost/benefit.  Would it make me a better writer?  Likely, but not certain. Does it guarantee a writing career?  No, not particularly.  Would it put me in a awful state of debt?  Without a doubt. 

The Marriage of Reason and Nightmare

I'm sure you have had fair share of Ballard coverage lately, but today I came across an insightful commentary on his work.  Theodore Dalrymple, one of the most acute and eloquent essayists that money can buy, wrote a thoughtful critique of Ballard's importance.

"No contemporary British writer captures our malaise better than does J.G. Ballard. In a writing career dating back half a century now, he has explored with acuity, from the aerie of his respectable suburban home outside London, the anxieties of modern existence—of what he calls themarriage of reason and nightmare. The reason is our technological advance, the nightmare the uses to which we have put it."

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Pulitzer Prize Book Winners, 2009

Just found out about this year’s Pulitzer Prize book winners.  Interesting choices.  Fiction always seems something unexpected, something that is usually off my radar.  For those who care about awards, here’s the list.

A Friendship with the Late J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009

Michael Moorcock writes of his late friend J.G. Ballard:

"Although literary critics were quick to minimize his years as an SF writer, Jimmy made no effort to divorce himself from his SF roots, though preferring to call himself first a 'speculative' and later an 'apocalyptic' writer. His influence was seen in the work of his admirers including Angela Carter, Martin Amis, Will Self, Iain Sinclair, Alan Moore, M. John Harrison and Christopher Priest. Tending, in the early years, to rely on me to introduce him to fellow spirits, like Burroughs, Chris Evans (New Worlds’ science editor), the artist Eduardo Paolozzi (our 'aeronautics adviser') and others, Jimmy remained a modest and rather shy man, a loyal friend who avoided what he called 'the literary crowd' even more assiduously than SF conventions . . ."

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The Manipulations of Ian McEwan

In regards to Ian McEwan's Atonement, James Woods writes:

"And indeed, knowing what readers want is at the heart of the diabolical success of this book. What is especially interesting about Atonement in the light of McEwan’s status as a popular but serious manipulator, is the delicate way it makes readers aware of their own desire to be gratified by serious narrative manipulation."

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The Utah Art Scene: 15 Bytes

Here is a short piece I wrote a couple months back for the City Weekly, but it was quickly orphaned and never made print.  For those interested in the Utah art scene (yes, believe it or not, there is one!), 15 Bytes is the premiere source.

"Do you ever find yourself coming home from Gallery Stroll or finishing the latest City Weekly arts coverage, but still craving more aesthetic and creative goodness? Then look no further than the smart and lively 15 Bytes. It is a local hidden gem of a magazine dedicated solely to art, artists, galleries, and more.