cell phone novels

Waiting For The Great American Cell Phone Novel

November 9, 2010 by roberrera Leave a Comment

Excuse me, I feel a little queasy – I’ve been experiencing keitai shosetsu. What’s keitai shosetsu? A new Asian flu? Not exactly. Keitai shosetsu are “cell phone novels” and they’ve been all the rage in Japan and China for the last decade. Yeah, novels written on cell phones in tiny, 100-word chunks and delivered in […]

“Big Sister” Is Selling Your Name

My son unearthed a bunch of my old newspaper clippings recently, so I used an ImageToText app on my iPhone to scan this one from February 28, 1996. The app worked pretty well, and idea of the government selling your mailing address (not to mention email) to marketers is as frightening and relevant today as […]

College safe zones degrade higher learning

Colleges and universities were once hotbeds of creative ideas and free expression. Students used to question abuse, question authority. Today, students request “safe zones” so they can protest “offensive” Halloween costumes, and insensitive emails. St. Louis University is one of several institutions of higher learning where designated safe spaces are a perceived necessity among minority […]

Waltz of Shadows by Joe Lansdale

Joe Lansdale is a master storyteller and Waltz of Shadows is no exception. Like many of Lansdale’s novels, this is a tale of family, and the bonds that tie us to one another. It’s also the story of death-defying thrill seekers, cheating husbands, corrupt cops, child pornographers, and a henchman with horrendous body odor. It’s […]