I once told a friend that I didn't have any guilty pleasures because I don't understand feeling guilty about whatever art you happen to enjoy. This remains true. However, as we've seen, sometimes this lack of guilt/shame means that I end up investing in works for which I am way, way outside of the target [...]
Author: Brennan
Hi, I'm Brennan. Thanks for reading.
There and Back Again (and Again and Again)
It's just about time. As is the case every year, I simultaneously feel like it's snuck up on me and that I've been awaiting it for months. I'm talking, of course, about my annual reading of The Lord of the Rings. For those of you previously unaware of this annual tradition, which I've been doing [...]
Gone Girl
Caitlin often chastises me for being the kind of person who recommends a lot of books and very rarely accepts (and subsequently reads) the recommendations of others. She is, of course, very right about all of this. So, partly in an effort to appease her and partly to see how the other side lives, I [...]
The Sirens of Titan
No one really compares to Kurt Vonnegut, do they? His voice was so unique among his peers that it became almost instantly recognizable. And it first fully took shape in 1959's The Sirens of Titan. Following on the relatively unremarkable heels of Player Piano, his 1952 debut, The Sirens of Titan is brimming with the sharp wit and [...]
An Abundance of Katherines
An Abundance of Katherines is a book about an anagrammatically-minded child prodigy struggling with the fact that he might not be so special after all. It's also a book about a romance-predicting algorithm, a road trip, and coming out of your shell. Oh, and it's kind of a comedy. It's a complicated - and excellent [...]
The Foul Deluge
Well, shit. (And, as you'll come to see, I mean that literally.) So a little rainstorm blew through southeast Michigan a few days ago and, in addition to keeping me from my regularly scheduled blogging output, made an already depressing day that much worse. Unable to properly funnel the downpour, sewer systems backed up and streets [...]
Repeating, Repeating
When I was younger I would listen to the same CD on repeat for hours upon hours and days upon days. I would come home from school and go up to my room and before I sat down to do my homework, play video games, or watch the Red Wings I'd hit the PLAY button on [...]
Triggers
I, being the paragon of athletic achievement that I am, get most of my exercise from playing roller hockey once a week. Calm down, everyone. There'll be time for autographs later. Anyway, as unimpressive as that already sounds, the truth is even worse: Sometimes, due to a variety of factors, all the strenuous exertion of my, ahem, [...]
Good Will Grayson
When I recently suggested to Caitlin that she should read a couple of John Green's books - that I thought she would like them - the resulting conversation went a little something like this: CAITLIN IS ON THE COUCH, WATCHING FINDING BIGFOOT. BRENNAN ENTERS, STAGE LEFT. Brennan: You should really read a couple of John Green's [...]
Social Programming
Caitlin and I had dinner with my parents over the weekend and I couldn't help but notice that a lot of their stories that in the past would have started with "I was talking to [so-and-so] the other day," now begin with "I saw on Facebook the other day that [yada yada]." That's not a meaningless difference. [...]
Songs & Stories 