Like every parent, she failed us in a thousand ways . . .

"Like every parent she failed us in a thousand ways, some of them barely forgivable, but her attention was a gift, the foundation on which I could grow up without fear of abandonment that had haunted her as a child."

~~ from "Sons and Mothers" by George Packer as printed in The Atlantic, October 2026

Manchester or Leeds

"Manchester has the same problems as Leeds — chavs, filth, pollution . . . litter, shopping centres, graffiti, scum, traffic, kebab, Jihad, beggars, posers, polishers . . . drugs, rape, street violence, vandalism, gangs, but it's also an old, large, strange city; it doesn't feel to have sprung up overnight like Leeds. There are enormous redbrick buildings bearing the plaques of old banks and insurance companies. It all seems very solid and enduring and English to you.

"Engels lived here, as did Marx and Admiral Dönitz (final head of state of the 3rd Reich); Wittgenstein as you later find lived about five minutes' walk from your house, a century ago."

~~ from the memoir 4.5 as included in Walter Aske's Vocations

Sons and Mothers

George Packer's "Sons and Mothers" from The Atlantic's October 2026 print issue is a memoir of growing up in a literary family; from it, I was able to ascertain that writer Ann Packer is the "celebrated novelist" who goes unnamed but is recognized as George's sister. Ann and George's mom taught creative writing at Stanford University and lived for about a century while their father passed before he reached 50.

The pub is a shithole, just down the road.

"For Christmas, Pikey 'invites' the team, including the temps, for slap-up Crimbo nosh at a local pub. Presumably, she's been allocated a budget for team-bonding. The pub is a shithole just down the road. The clientele are dolescum, drug dealers, prostitutes, junkies, schizophrenics, and bank workers. Everyone orders lager. The barman stares when you ask for 'a glass of red wine'; it's a familiar look, one you will encounter throughout your 4.5 years. Finally, they dig up a half-bottle. One of the permascum, a huge muscled chump with designer jeans and t-shirt, sneers down at you: Do you not drink pints, Elberry?"

~~ from the memoir 4.5 as included in Walter Aske's Vocations

Walter Aske's Vocations

 

Walter Aske's Vocations includes a 200-page memoir of his temp career.

book review of Scotty Plays Guitar

Travis Shosa reviews Dimitry Kogan's Scotty Plays Guitar.

Hugh Blanton's review of Fight for Your Long Day

Hugh Blanton's thoughts on Fight for Your Long Day arrive after his consideration of Auggie's Revenge.

Yung Pueblo's Nicomachean Ethics

 

~~ from Aristotle's The Way Forward 

Corona\Samizdat returns November 2026

Rick Harsch's Corona\Samizdat will have books for sale again by November. We've been told to refrain from ordering titles before then.

Where When It Rains by John F. Duffy

 

Where When It Rains by John F. Duffy