Sterling HolyWhiteMountain
@mrhwm.bsky.social
sinǎḱii. ǎmsḱǎaṗii ṗīīḱǔni nation. real big ndn. words at the newyorker, atlantic, paris review, espn, etc. “I’m a disco guy.” substack @ https://aphoristic.substack.com
David Lynch gave us the language we needed to better articulate the indescribable strangeness of our shared reality. “Lynchian” is so overused because it’s a viscerally understandable word without any known synonyms. I can’t imagine a more beautiful artistic legacy than that.
anyone with half an ear knows lana is better than taylor but real ones know carly rae is the one taylor wishes she was
whats the word for the literary type who pretends theyre hard left but the moment theyre offered any power or prestige they become a card carrying member of the regime? asking bc you know there seem to be a uh lot of these people about.
watched late night with the devil last night. there is a category of american film that has emerged in the past few years...im not sure how to describe it but its like...late night with the devil / vast of night / broadcast signal intrusion / shadow in the cloud / etc. they are not indie but
there is a whole gen of young americans who are not fit to read adult literature. a different kind of lost generation: utterly unprepared for adult reality. they should not be allowed to read anything but YA. and the people who taught them to read this way should be sent to an offworld prison.
one sign american literary realism was going into hard decline was when people started writing sequels. sorry—except in the rarest of instances sequels and trilogies are for the other genres. im not even sure why. thats just how it is.
being out in public spaces in seattle and hearing all the rock music playing gives me hope.
rather than come off as an enemy-in-waiting, Strohl always reads as the filmmaker's best friend, the one who can be trusted to craft an interpretation that lights the film up. It's deeply generous and rewarding criticism. Hard to Watch is worth it just for his take on Titane. 3/3
his power as a critic is instead in his ability to value film far more deeply, profoundly, and sympathetically than others, and to draw us in to the intense and loving attention he pays to films through his lucid and mercifully jargon-free writing. One consequences of this approach is that, 2/3
had the great privilege of reading this book before pub and writing a blurb for it. matt has written two important books about film now: why its ok to love bad movies and hard to watch: how to fall in love with difficult movies). cannot recommend them enough.
Nick Riggle@nickriggle.bsky.social · 2y agoSo much film criticism is fundamentally snide. Even if a critic is praising a film, one is ready for that little insult to appear, that smug reminder of the critic's power. Matt Strohl's (@strohltopia.bsky.social) new book, Hard to Watch, feels like film criticism set free,where the reminder of 1/3
made a real wicked list and put myself on it since i dont talk good enough to white people to be on other lists. is there a way to ask for gas money on this site go.bsky.app/UXqXieq
eating trader joes pub cheese out of the container with a spoon is this how im supposed to post on bluesky
i am no longer a liberal; neither am i a conservative. rather i am a third, more lynchian thing:
if liberalism is to survive it must look like this:
my hope for the tyson-paul fight tonight. (you can guess who tyson is in this image.)
Fan of Louise Erdrich? Mr HolyWhiteMountain is a brilliant writer, and a fine interviewer as well. Enjoy!! (Also- go support Birchbark Bookstore in Mpls ✨✨✨)
Sterling HolyWhiteMountain@mrhwm.bsky.social · 2y agoone of the honors of my life to interview louise for the paris review.
Hey, my new book has a cover, and a preorder link (an ideal gift for someone you love, like, tolerate, or want to be nice to). Really excited for this one. If you liked Always Crashing, this is a solid complement to it: the sprawling story of an industry’s rise and fall and what comes after
The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood a book by Matthew Specktor
A personal and cultural exploration of the struggles between art and business at the heart of modern Hollywood, through the eyes of the talent that shaped itMatthew Specktor grew up in the film indust...
bookshop.org
one of the honors of my life to interview louise for the paris review.
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗@charlescmann.bsky.social · 2y ago"I own the curse and glory of English, a language that has eaten up so many other cultures and become a conglomerate of gorgeous, seedy, supernal, rich, evocative words." -- Louise Erdrich, newly (and fascinatingly) interviewed by @mrhwm.bsky.social
Epigraph of Pynchon's "Against the Day." (I was just reminded of this, indirectly, by @mrhwm.bsky.social.)
On the Other Place, @mrhwm.bsky.social just posted a list of his published stuff, and this short, beautifully written glimpse of memoir just knocked me out. (Lots of other great stuff, too, I just really liked this one.)
The Buffalo Robe and the Radio
Growing Pains by Sterling HolyWhiteMountain: I had fallen in love with rock and roll and the dark.
newyorker.com
"In the end, what I learned is that a language is a way of seeing, and there is almost no way to see in the old way now." Haunting #flash from @mrhwm.bsky.social https://www.newyorker.com/books/flash-fiction/wolves-sterling-holywhitemountain
“Wolves,” by Sterling HolyWhiteMountain
They said we had too much white blood, we were not dark enough.
newyorker.com