Tom Stoppard (1937-2025)

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Tom Stoppard is dead. Let the satyrs and rainclouds weep. Let all who value wit for wit's sake drape their brows with black crepe.

Stoppard's big (and early) break was Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a play reimagining Hamlet from the perspective of the two least-developed and worst-treated (Hamet has them murdered) characters in the play, As it plays out, they might have stepped out of Waiting for Godot if only they'd been baggy-pants black and white movie comedians. 

His other great triumph was Shakespeare in Love. He did not write the script for that movie. Marc Norman did, and God bless him for that. But the suits, in an uncharacteristic burst of wisdom, looked at Norman's script and said, "This needs a sprinkling of wit. Let's bring in Stoppard."

The result? Imagine me blowing a big wet French chef kiss. Mwah! 

Parfait!

His other plays were a varied lot. All were witty. Some were better than others. Many or all may well survive our age. But Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Shakespeare in love are timeless.

I know his work and am heartbroken. You should be too.

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Introducing Dragons

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Look what came in the mail! Loong's Tales: The True Form of the Dragon, edited by my friend Lynn Sun. As you probably know, there are several different forms of dragons in China. The one we are most familiar with is the Loong, which is the emperor of dragons. Not coincidentally, this is the type that the anthology focuses on.

The publisher is Eastern Wood, in Singapore, and the text is entirely in Chinese. The book contains five stories:

"Regarding Why Humans Have to Seek Dragons" by Baoshu

"Becoming a Dragon" by Wang Xiaohai

"Are You Aware of the Dragon's Transformations?" by Zhan Baitang

"The Last Speech" by He Jianhong

and "Report on the Origin and Usage of Loong Memes" by Xinfeng Xike

 with an afterword by Lynn Sun and a foreword by (cough) me.

In the U.S., this would be a fantasy anthology, but things are different in Singapore. These are all science fiction stories--and a varied lot at that. It was a pleasure to write the introduction and I feel honored to be associated with these writers.

 

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A Month of Universe Box Mondays

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October has come and gone and with it,  the first month's (plus one week's) Universe Box Mondays. These short essays on File 770 are, obviously, meant to promote my forthcoming Tachyon Publications short story collection The Universe Box. But they were written to be as entertaining as I could make them, each one meant to serve as an amuse-bouche to start out your week.

 Structurally, these writings are meant to serve as a short nonfiction anthology. And the rule for constructing an anthology is to "start and end long and strong." None of these essays is long. But the series starts out with one of the strangest objects I own: 

September 29: a devil stone 

Then burns gracefully toward one of the homier pleasures of summer:

October 6: home grown tomatoes

 And from there segues into how, for the proverbial fifteen minutes, I became a cocktail mahoff:

October 13: a martini  

 And how I spent my summer vacation:

October 20: mermaid's toenails 

 And, finally, how J. G. Ballard shamed me into writing a story on a life-mask of my wife:

October 27: a mask 

 It occurred to me a little late that I ought to be bundling these essays in monthly installments. So the next bundle ought to come out in only two weeks.

In the meantime, enjoy!

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AUTUMN DREAMS In One Continuous File.

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October has come and gone, and with it my serialized written-on-leaves Halloween story, Autumn Dreams.

My son Sean has crafted an Imgur post containing the whole story. If you want to re-read it in ease, of if you'd like to share the story with a friend... well, there it is.

You can read the story here. 

Enjoy!

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Conclusion)

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The End

Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 30 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 29 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 28 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 27 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 26 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 25 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 24 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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On Love and Marriage

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Nicholas Sparks was on NPR yesterday, explaining why his novels were always about love.

I couldn't help remembering an incident, years ago, in a Jiffy Lube waiting room. I was in limbo while my car's oil was refilled with no available diversion save for a few tattered copies of People, some car magazines, and a coffee machine with a carafe of stale caffeine.

There was one other occupant of the room. He was an ordinary little fellow, rather older than me. We introduced ourselves. He started talking about his late wife. How they met, how soon they married, what they meant to each other. What her virtues were. He didn't elevate her to the status of Saint Wife. But it was clear how much they loved one another. And, listening to him, I could tell that it was the love they'd had which made her death bearable to him.

You could pass this man on the street and think nothing of him. If you knew he was a widower, you might well pity him. But, hearing his story, I realized he was one of the blessed of God. He had married the exact right woman for him, and as a result his life was rich and good. Even in her absence, he had her memory.

When he was done, he apologized for boring me. Then he left.

I think of this man from time to time and what an enviable life he had.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 23 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 22 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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AUTUMN DREAMS (Part 21 of 31)

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Above: Every autumn, I create a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then abandon them where I found them. The story is then serialized here, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

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