This Pain Is Not For You
Does sad music demand any ethical responsibilities of its listeners? Can we use
sad music any way we see fit? Or does the disclosure of pain oblige us to think
carefully about the
Rebecca Tirrell Talbot
Rebecca Tirrell Talbot lives in Chicago, where she teaches writing courses and works in the Writing Center at North Park University.
<br /><br />
On Keeping a Spiritual Travelogue
My grandfather’s death absorbed a December ten years ago and cast a long shadow
on Decembers to come. Because of this, “getting into the Christmas spirit” now
requires me to reflect on
Learning to Love Jonathan Richman
The music of singer/songwriter/guitarist Jonathan Richman has been acclaimed not
just for its influence on early punk, but also for its childlike and positive
lyrics. Songs like “That Summer Feeling,” “Twilight
Down-to-Earth Romanticism: Jane Campion’s Bright Star
(This essay contains a few spoilers, but they’re not so bad if you already know
Keats’s biography.)
A film about a Romantic poet’s romance could so easily be cringe-worthy. I
Manna in the Neon Wilderness
A few months ago, my husband Sean and I sat in our living room rummaging through
crumbs and unwanted nuts at the bottom of a bowl of Chex mix. Sean pulled out a