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"Halt and Catch Fire": A hidden gem

In this edition of Marginalia, the best series you've probably never heard of. Halt and Catch Fire (2014 – 2017) If further evidence were...

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"The Haunting of Hill House"

How Shirley Jackson's iconic ghost story shows us that freedom can become a cage. “First world problems”: I hate that phrase, if only for...

Nicholson Baker

How to return the familiar to the strange This morning, I go to my studio with someone else’s voice in my head. This other person’s...

How Penelope Lively's "Moon Tiger" Subverts Identity

On Penelope Lively's timeless novel and what it tells us about the stories we tell about who we are When it comes to quoting Oscar Wilde,...

"Strange Heart Beating"

What's in a name? While we were living in Mexico, my partner attended a language school so that one of us could connect with the locals...

The Library as a Temple

Weekends in my childhood meant visiting three places. First, after the slow death of Friday and with it the passing of another school...

"Arrival"

How to move forwards by looking back By the time the opening scene of Arrival had played out, I knew I was watching something remarkable....