Volume 21 Issue 6
Enter a World of Mystery, Magic, and High Finance
Discover a land where dragons battle corporate jets for control of the skies, and where a mystical dagger glowing with synergy is the only hope against a merger that will enslave all mankind. On sale now: exciting new novels by Donald L. Brampthorne.
An Excerpt from Michel Gondry's New Screenplay, 'L’écume des jours' ('Mood Indigo')
Here are the first three pages of the screenplay for Michel Gondry's newest film, which will be released in the US later this year as Mood Indigo.
An Interview with Robert McKee, the God of Story
Robert McKee has lectured on storytelling for three decades, and his book Story is the bible for screenwriters. Alec Sokolow and Tony Camin are a screenwriting team in Los Angeles. They recently called McKee to talk shop and discuss What the...
Fan Fiction
I lived in a basement beneath a French professor and his wife, who taught German at a dying school for girls. When Agnes visited, there was the sharp, joyous smell of new tires. That was the smell the blue vibrator released when cleaned.
History
Lately I have run into Troy everywhere. I spotted him at a Whole Foods squeezing summer fruits. I swayed next to him one boozy night at a Wilco concert on the beach. Often I attempt to catch his eye, but he never looks at me.
The Ransom of Samantha
The detective who showed up at 5 AM was not much older-looking than Samantha's friends. (Not that Samantha ever hung out with clean-cut guys like this. Why should she when there were still heroin addicts in bands who needed a doormat?)
We’re Watching the Trees
Millie Anthony is 38. Middle of the night. Lying there in the still bedroom, looking toward the window. A man called Jeff lies beside her. “We’re watching the trees again,” she says.
Celebrity Novels, Reviewed
There are a ton of embarrassing books with famous names attached to them. We sampled a few to see whether they were really that bad and found that yes, they were.
How Do You Write a Joke?
Comedy isn’t as respected as other, more “literary” forms of writing, but it’s one of the most unforgiving. We talked to a few of these luminaries to ask them the toughest question in the world: How do you get people to laugh?
Letter from the Chateau Marmont
When we recently stayed at the Chateau we brought our friends Carol and Tony to the lobby. At the table next to ours, two round-bellied men in their 40s, dressed like they’d just come from a baseball game, were gossiping about the movies they were...