Author Archive for Seth
Seth Greenland is the author of "The Bones". His new novel, "Shining City" was published in July, 2008. Movie rights have been sold to Warner Brothers. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the literary journal Black Clock.
The Recession Made Me an Optimist - Seth Greenland
I don’t feel like I have the luxury of pessimism any more. The country is in dire shape, the problems seem insurmountable, the leaders of the past eight years dangerous buffoons who will pay no price for their epic malfeasance. The auto industry is tanking, newspapers are going bankrupt, and Wall Street is fleecing us again with the bailout. Truly, things are awful.
And yet.
When the Going Gets Tough, Satire Gets Going - Seth Greenland
American culture has long had a carnival aspect. How else to explain the ascendancy of Paris Hilton and her fellow celebritards, or the career of Flavor Flav? But until recently, these people and their antics had been a diversion, something to be glanced at in a dog-eared magazine at the dentist’s office, or to be glimpsed on a teenager’s laptop. Not anymore. With the advent of the Palin Family . . . reality took a turn that must make all practitioners of satire quake in our boots. If this is what truth offers, our audience would do well to ask, then who needs comedy?
Publishing 2.0 - Seth Greenland
One of the more vexing decisions a novelist makes today is how aggressively to promote a new book. Time was you sold it, then moved to Paris, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, or danced in Plaza fountain after a night of drunken carousing, while the publishing house did all the work. Alas, those days have gone the way of the fifty-cent paperback. For example: to blog or not to blog? You can see how I answered that one.
A Hero for our Times - Seth Greenland
But the most piquant detail from my daughter’s B’Nai Mitzvah Tour circa 2005 was observed at – where else - a country club. It occurred during the cocktail hour, somewhere between the canapés and the cocktail wieners, when the bar mitzvah boy was going to make his entrance. The lights dimmed, a spotlight hit a pair of gilded doors on a balcony above a sweeping staircase. The music kicked in : P.I.M.P. by 50 Cent. If the bubbes and zaydes present were aware of or concerned with the lyric content (No Cadillacs, no perms that you can’t see, that I’m a motherfuckin’ P.I.M.P.) they gave no evidence of it.
The danger of being a heartbeat away & not knowing what you don’t know - Seth Greenland
What makes Sarah Palin so dangerous is that, despite her right wing, Christianist positions, she reminds me of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason’s eminently likeable character from The Honeymooners. Like Ralph, Palin’s level of knowledge exists in inverse proportion to her level of confidence. This is a classic comic archetype with roots that go back thousands of years (There ya go again, lookin’ at the past!). They both say the most idiotic things, and you just want to pinch their cheeks. Sarah Palin believes a girl who is impregnated by her father should be forced to have the baby. And she’s so darn cute when she’s sayin’ it! It’s totalitarianism with a wink and a shimmy.
I love a man in uniform - Seth Greenland
Seth weighs in on HuffPo about how troubled he is by the police officer with the shaved head who introduced Sarah Palin at her rally in Florida yesterday.
What’s John McCain Thinking? Seth Greenland
Seth on HuffPost: What’s Johnny Mac thinking:
God forgive me, Sally Palin makes Bush look good. Prime Minister of Pakistan sure did like her, though. Thinks she’s a hooker. Poor guy was wondering what all the cameras were doing there. Wonder what he talked to her about? Sally, everyone in Pakistan wants to know…is Clay Aiken really gay? Least that’s something she’s qualified to talk about. Am I going to Hell for choosing her? Johnny Mac’s a risk taker. Damn the torpedoes, I’ll buy some asbestos underwear!
What’s Obama thinking? Seth Greenland
Imagine you’re in a car accident. You’re pulled from the twisted wreckage with a massive head injury. The hospital has two surgeons, a black man and a white woman. The man went to the best medical school in the country, is cool, calm and rocks his scalpel like an artist. But the other one, the woman, she looks like the lady you ran next to in the 10k last weekend. Oh, and she’s a veterinarian who usually operates on reindeer. Who’s it going to be?
Sarah Palin Book Club
Seth weighs in on the emergence of Sarah Palin as a character in the LA Times Book Blog.
Johnny Mac’s preparing for his speech tonight - what’s he thinking? Seth Greenland
Wonder if they’ll let me hold that baby while I give my speech tonight.
What John McCain Is Thinking? — Seth Greenland
Seth mindfully dishes out some political satire on Huffington Post today.
MINDFUL IN THE CHAOS — Seth Greenland
But what about when a storm does hit, what then Mr. Mindful? To that I would say this: When a storm hits, do everything you can to keep safe and dry. And keep clearly in mind that the storm will exhaust itself, pass on, and blue skies will literally return. When in the middle of a giant upset, this is the thing to focus on.
God and the Man in the White House. Seth Greenland
Today on Huffington Post, Seth writes that: there was a time when a politician’s relationship with the universe was a private matter about which he or she could choose to reflect deeply, or not. But now religion is just another signifier, like lapel pins, an item to be checked off when we’re evaluating would-be presidents. Allow me to quote Eric Hoffer: “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”
Who knew the Pope and Chubby Checker had so much in common? Seth Greenland
Not long ago a group of Vatican theological advisors recommended eliminating the concept of limbo and Pope Benedict XVI signed off on it. This troubles me deeply. Although I am not a Catholic, I have great admiration for that religion. Their art collection is unsurpassed, their clergy know how to put on an excellent show, [...]
There is absolutely nothing interesting about me. Seth Greenland
I have been stymied in my efforts to craft a memoir. Here is my problem: there is absolutely nothing interesting about me.
Role Models - Seth Greenland
The word role model gets thrown around a lot these days. Athletes are supposed to fulfill that role, or religious leaders, or, god forbid, movie stars. The man whose primary role model is his father, and who can still say that in middle age, is lucky for a lot of reasons.