Author Archives: Cultural Gutter
Revealed by the Twentieth Repetition
Or the thirtieth or the fortieth! What happens to your experience of a genre work, ordinarily somewhat disposable, when you read or watch or listen to it multiple times? Most of the time, your brain turns to mush, or you … Continue reading
Who’s Your Doctor?
Confession time: Until 2003, I had no idea what Dr. Who was. I mean, I knew there’d been a television show with that name. My Nana used to watch it occasionally. I had vague childhood memories of the freaky/cool tunnel … Continue reading
Becoming Human
On the tv show Dexter, Dexter Morgan believes he is a monster pretending to be human. And while Dexter constructs an elaborate performance of being normal, he also yearns for human connection and acceptance. He’s serial killer who’s trying to … Continue reading
To Say Nothing of the Hitman
I admit to being a romantic, but I don’t have much experience with romance novels. Like most teenagers, I had a knack for finding the dirty bits in any likely looking books I could find on the shelf, and at … Continue reading
Master of Infinite Kungfu
I always have trouble writing about comics that I think are good, just excellent and existing in their own seamless perfection, which means that here at the Gutter I don’t always write about the comics that I love most. I … Continue reading
Watership Vortex
Some books just grab a hold of you and never let go. The subject matter could be almost anything, from a big fat fantasy to, say, building a cathedral. Or rabbits! On the short list of absolute classics, Watership Down … Continue reading
If You Leave, How Will I Strangle You?
I wasn’t always such a huge Ilona Andrews fan. In fact, the first three novels in Andrews’ ‘Kate Daniels’ series were on my radar only because I stocked them in my store. I knew that ‘Ilona Andrews’ was in fact … Continue reading
Murder and Intuition
No matter how you cast it – intellectualized, implied, luridly depicted – murder isn’t nice. CSI upped the ante on graphic visuals of murder victims, spawning a host of procedurals which routinely include shots of dangling intestines and partially digested … Continue reading
The Woman in the Suit
If I went out at night, I would never cross through the park, instead I’d angle along the streets bounding it over to the store for juice or chips. And nights when the prostitutes weren’t out, I would turn around … Continue reading
Infectious Enthusiasm
Sci-fi author Rudy Rucker has been busy, with four books that have come out in the last year or so. I’ve just finished reading his autobiography, Nested Scrolls, and it’s hilarious, insightful, and just about as science-fictional as his novels. … Continue reading