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Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy

478 Followers

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Nov 30

Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary Life

November 14, 1851 Quick, literary folks: why is this date important? Hint: Call Me Ishmael. Yes, on this day 172 years ago, Herman Melville wrote not only the great American novel, but one of the enduring classics of world literature. I won’t bore you with yet another tribute to this…

Writing

10 min read

Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary Life
Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary Life
Writing

10 min read


Oct 26

The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ at 50

Most popular Who album? No. Most important Who album? No. Most influential Who album? No. Best Who album? Definitely. More: Best album of the ‘70s? Probably. More? Best rock album, ever? Possibly. Quick question: have you ever heard this? (This song; this album.) Do yourself a favor: drop everything and…

Music

7 min read

The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ at 50
The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ at 50
Music

7 min read


Jul 25

The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting: Why Milan Kundera Matters

i. Kundera almost killed me, still in my creative cradle, a writer needing nourishment. He arrived in my life too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what relatively inexperienced but enthusiastic amateur — fresh from the front lines of grad school and adjusting to a world without…

Culture

5 min read

The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting: Why Milan Kundera Matters
The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting: Why Milan Kundera Matters
Culture

5 min read


Jul 3

Jim Morrison: Still Hot, Still Sexy, Still Dead

Jim Morrison took his last bath on July 3, 1971 in Paris. R.I.P. Lizard King. (I wrote, in what most normal people would consider painful detail, about The Doors in late 2006 and early 2007 for PopMatters. The first occasion was to take a stab at the Jim Morrison mythology…

Jim Morrison

13 min read

Jim Morrison: Still Hot, Still Sexy, Still Dead
Jim Morrison: Still Hot, Still Sexy, Still Dead
Jim Morrison

13 min read


Jul 1

Alan Arkin & American Artistry

When it rains, it pours, so of course news breaks that the beloved, completely irreplaceable Alan Arkin has left us earthlings behind for better adventures. Before he became the always-lovable cantankerous old guy, he was (like so many, but not all, of us) young once, the main attraction as opposed…

Film

3 min read

Alan Arkin & American Artistry
Alan Arkin & American Artistry
Film

3 min read


Jun 30

WHAT WRITERS TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PERSEVERANCE

The first rule of writing is to understand, and eventually embrace the fact that there are no rules. There are also no short-cuts. (Sorry, posers.) Writing, like life, is ultimately all about balance. And how well you can maintain it. …

Writing

7 min read

WHAT WRITERS TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PERSEVERANCE
WHAT WRITERS TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PERSEVERANCE
Writing

7 min read


Jun 8

AI Will Not Replace Art

“Etonne-moi!” — Serge Diaghilev, to Jean Cocteau Adam Gopnik, the prolific and brilliant writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker for several decades, has a timely piece in The New York Times that anyone interested in storytelling (why we do it, how we do it, what happens when…

Technology

6 min read

AI Will Not Replace Art
AI Will Not Replace Art
Technology

6 min read


May 30

1993 + 30 = Saturn (or, a Sun Ra Sampler)

Thirty years ago, today, Herman Poole Blount, aka Sonny Blount, aka Le Sony’r Ra, aka SUN RA, left these spheres to (take your pick): return to Saturn, whence he came, or to travel the spaceways, or blaze new sonic trails in other galaxies or –the correct choice– all of the…

Sun Ra

6 min read

1993 + 30 = Saturn (or, a Sun Ra Sampler)
1993 + 30 = Saturn (or, a Sun Ra Sampler)
Sun Ra

6 min read


May 26

A Love Letter to the Inimitable Martin Amis

Style is not neutral; it gives moral directions. — Martin Amis Milan Kundera came to me too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what relatively inexperienced but enthusiastic amateur — fresh from the front lines of grad school and adjusting to no longer deconstructing texts with an…

Writing

6 min read

A Love Letter to the Inimitable Martin Amis
A Love Letter to the Inimitable Martin Amis
Writing

6 min read


May 12

This Apostle’s Creed: East Broadway Run Down

Fall ’83 and, as if weekly church services weren’t insufferable enough, the Sacrament of Confirmation required mandatory tutelage, also once a week, on Sundays, which meant our soccer games (and football viewing, this being the glory days of the mighty NFC East and the tag-team of Madden/Summerall) were bookended by…

Music

7 min read

This Apostle’s Creed: East Broadway Run Down
This Apostle’s Creed: East Broadway Run Down
Music

7 min read

Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy

478 Followers

Executive Director, 1455, @1455LitArts. Avoiding quiet desperation by any means necessary http://seanmurphy.net

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