Category Archives: Writing

Book Lover’s Guide To Coffee

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

If you love coffee as much as I do, you may want to download a free copy of The Book Lover’s Guide to Coffee. The e-book from Penguin Random House features stories on the cultural significance of the heavenly beverage, tips on … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, Restaurants, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Manufacturing Consent

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Published in 1988, Manufacturing Consent is a frighteningly relevant book in this time of media collusion in the take over of democractic governments and institutions by kleptocrats and neo-fascists. The book challenges the idea that the mainstream media acts as a check … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Books, Freedom of Speech, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

American Gods

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve long been an evangelist for Neil Gaiman’s outstanding 2001 novel American Gods and I’m looking forward to the TV adaptation this year. If you haven’t gotten around to reading the book, get on the stick; it’s great fun and surprisingly relevant … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Museums, Tourism, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Eighty years ago this month, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was first published. Based on Steinbeck’s own experiences as a bindlestiff – an impoverished migratory worker – in California during the 1920s, Of Mice and Men tells the story of George Milton and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, History, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Brussels Book Days

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Throughout the month of March, Belgium’s capital will be celebrating Brussels Book Days. The collaborative venture of the Foire du Livre de Bruxelles (Brussels Book Fair) and Passa Porta International Center for Literature celebrates the city’s passion for books and reading with … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, Europe, Tourism, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

’60s Redux

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Inspired by the ongoing national crisis triggered by the election of a neo-Fascist national government, Chicago-based illustrators Clay Hickson and Liana Jegers have launched The Smudge . With its bubbled typeface masthead and old school feel, the new monthly paper aims to … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of Speech, History, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

You have to read this book

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t to the marvelous Spanish cartoonist Laura Pecheco  (and you really do need to read Station 11 by Emily St.John Mandel.

Posted in Animation, Art, Books, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Hands Off Our Revolution

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Hands Off Our Revolution is a new organization of artists, writers and musicians who have come together for a series of art exhibitions and actions to confront head-on the rise of reactionary right-wing populism in Europe, the U.S., and around the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Freedom of Speech, Music, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Fairies Underground

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

There are many terrific “book sharing” programs around the world, but my favorites are always the projects operated by small groups of generous, dedicated book lovers. Books on the Subway is one of those heartwarming projects that makes a place like New … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Public Transport, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Covering Nineteen Eighty-Four

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Brian D. Butler
Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Freedom of Speech, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment