The freeloader: hated by parents, friends, and roommates. Always around. Say you run into that freeloader you know and you ask them how they’ve been: “I dunno, I’m like homeless, man. My parents threw me out … so I’m like  couchsurfing, ya know?” And that’s how it goes. Murky language: “I’m like …  I dunno, [...]

I. November 17th, 1971. Philip K. Dick, a brilliant novelist well known in science fiction circles, unlocked the front door of his house in San Rafael, California, and turned on the living-room lights. His stereo was gone. The floor was covered with water and pieces of asbestos. The fireproof, 1100-pound asbestos-and-steel file cabinet that protected [...]

You could only get away with this if you were David Crosby in the sixties. But hell, you gotta remember: maybe he almost cut his hair … but he didn’t. And that’s a lot more than most of those 60s psychedelic guys can say. Here’s a translation if you can’t understand speech that is echoed [...]

I was first exposed to William S. Burroughs years ago. I bought Naked Lunch on a whim. Right before heading off to Mexico. While I was there, the book was one of the only things that spoke English. I found the writing wild, hilarious, and especially perverted … the worlds described are twisted and sick. [...]

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Part of the BBC’s Arena TV documentary series, this is on the life and work of Kurt Vonnegut. (If the title wasn’t clear enough for you.) I don’t know how you feel about him and his books, but I’ve always sort of enjoyed his opinions and attitude. His books were never as dense or heady [...]

Celebrities used to just die. Going out in flames, overdoses, suicides, murders, whatever. Or you’d hear about their deaths decades later. Long after their usefulness had run out. But now they seem to linger around. Think about that eyeliner queen Bret Michaels, for example. What does he have to offer? Why’s he still around? He’s [...]