Andrew Patrick

49 Flips | 1 Magazine | 1 Follower | @ajpwriter | Keep up with Andrew Patrick on Flipboard, a place to see the stories, photos, and updates that matter to you. Flipboard creates a personalized magazine full of everything, from world news to life’s great moments. Download Flipboard for free and search for “Andrew Patrick”

The Last Man in Russia, and the Struggle to Save a Dying Nation by Oliver Bullough – review

Two views of contemporary Russia have currency today. One is of a vigorous Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nation led by the equally vigorous Vladimir Putin. The other, put forward by Oliver Bullough in his second book, is of a dying nation. As Russia's economy slows to a halt, …

"Perhaps Culture is Now the Counterculture"

On May 19, New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier spoke at the commencement ceremony of Brandeis University, addressing the graduates as "fellow …

Counter-culture

7 Totally Epic Rules For Writing on the Internet

February 27, 2014 by MarcRule number 6 is so incredibly true, it hurts.1. A prostitute has sex for money. Internet-writers write about sex for money. …

Star Wars: Episode VII: Harrison Ford and Han Solo bury the lightsaber

It turns out that Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo’s involvement in Star Wars: Episode VII was never really a question.As Darth Vader might …

That Old Clintonian Dysfunction

As Hillary Clinton is gearing up towards another possible run at the presidency, Politico has written an in-depth story regarding Clinton’s love-hate …

How Maureen Dowd Won a Pulitzer for Painting Monica Lewinsky as a Crazy, Predatory Bimbo

Monica Lewinsky has unwittingly done this country a great service. In 1998, she forced America to bumble through an unprecedented national …

High Valyrian 101: Learn and Pronounce Common Phrases

Exploiting History

The excitement surrounding Steve McQueen’s rendering of Solomon Northup’s slave narrative 12 Years a Slave into a Hollywood film has, with few …

Black History

National Poetry Week Poem of the Day: A Classical Tamil Love Poem

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Flavorwire will be posting a poem a day. For today’s installment, we have a selection from the new collection The …

These 9 Words Don't Mean What You Think They Mean

The following is an excerpt from The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead [Crown Business, $17.95], in which author Charles Murray discusses words with meanings that have changed -- and not always for the better.Disinterested used to mean uninterested.The meaning of disinterested is “free of bias and …

Madness Under The Tracks

Pulpy Lovecraft Fiction“Wanna hear somethin scary?”The old guy asking this as he kicked the bloated body of a rat from the subway track.The kid lit a …

Identifying Hipster Bands and Bro Bands: A Scientific Study

A few years back, I was avoiding my family on Christmas by listening to Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible. With all the grace and couth in the world, my cousin …

I Know I Should Tweet

Before I left San Francisco for AWP, a conference of 13,000 writers in Seattle, I told my friend that I was going to start tweeting. I wanted to …

This is How Liberty Dies: Mussolini and Palpatine, Part One. - Unbound Worlds

It’s a scene that Star Wars fans know well: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine rises to address the Galactic Senate and declares the dissolution of the …

“It can be hard to forgive the menacing intensity of the song, especially when you know who’s responsible for it. But pop music is teeming with overzealous lovers, and the deranged, over-the-top candor of such lyrics is part of their appeal.” Charles Manson’s “Lie: The Love and Terror Cult” was released forty-four years ago today: http://tpr.ly/1dx0Rjs.

The Music of the Swindle

American Hustle declares what it is about with disarming bluntness. The two con artists around whom it revolves confide to us in voice-over right at …

The Scent of Pine

Since language is not nearly as portable as the other arts, displacement poses particular challenges for migrant writers. After abandoning the Soviet …

Books

Woody Allen's maturity problem

Several months ago, I watched Woody Allen's 1979 film "Manhattan" for the first time since I was in my 20s and for perhaps the 10th time total."He adored New York City," Allen's character, Isaac Davis, says in voice-over in the opening lines. "He idolized it all out of proportion."Once upon a time, …

The Death of 'Stalin's Songbird'

Pete Seeger’s love of Stalinist ideals endured through the nightmare of pogroms and purge trials in the Soviet Union. His totalitarian sympathies …

Why Some Rappers Just Aren't Good Live

True fact: lots of successful rappers don't need a great live show to get where they are. Let them live!Danny Brown, who is a good live rapper, performs live.It doesn't take long for the average person to develop a healthy skepticism of rap shows. Aside from the usual live venue problems (guest …

Catawampus Uber Alles!: The Rumpus Interview with Peter Mountford

Peter Mountford is one of those dudes who you want to hang out with, on the page and off, because he’s had crazier experiences than you have, and …

Dear America, I Saw You Naked

And yes, we were laughing. Confessions of an ex-TSA agent.On Jan. 4, 2010, when my boss saw my letter to the editor in the New York Times, we had a little chat.It was rare for the federal security director at Chicago O’Hare to sit down with her floor-level Transportation Security Administration …