Author Archive

Mr g by Alan Lightman: Book Review [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Jan 24, 2012 No Comments by

Let’s just jump to the question you really want to ask: Does Alan Lightman’s new novel, Mr g: A Novel About the Creation, live up to the enormous accomplishment of his first one, Einstein’s Dreams? Comprised of chapters devoted to the dreams young Albert Einstein had while working on his theory of relativity, Einstein’s Dreams [...]

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THE MAP AND THE TERRITORY by Michel Houellebecq: Book Review [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Jan 03, 2012 9 Comments by

“Literary critics have labeled Michel Houellebecq’s novels ‘vulgar,’ ‘pamphlet literature’ and ‘pornography;’ he has been accused of obscenity, racism, misogyny and islamophobia.” Why couldn’t I have read that book? Considering that one of his previous novels focused on a travel agency that sold prostitution packages to Thailand and that several others contain enough sex and [...]

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On the Exegesis of the Soul Or: Why I Love Beef Stick [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Dec 16, 2011 6 Comments by

INTRODUCTION TO THE 2011 EDITION “May I try a free sample?” After speaking those six simple words, the ritual would always be the same: A smiling gray-haired clerk at a Hickory Farms Christmas stand in one of the many Western Pennsylvania malls I visited during my childhood would poke a toothpick into a delicately cut [...]

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THE PRAGUE CEMETERY by Umberto Eco: Book Review [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Nov 08, 2011 3 Comments by

Able to leap multidisciplinary subjects in a single bound, Umberto Eco is the college professor you always wanted to have.  His first novel, 1980’s international bestseller The Name of the Rose placed such seemingly inaccessible topics as semiotics and biblical hermeneutics inside the irresistible candy wrapper of a medieval monastery murder mystery.  Eco’s second novel, [...]

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WIN A McRIB! The Five Reasons Why the McRib is the Greatest Fast Food Item of All Time [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Oct 28, 2011 12 Comments by

Want to win a free McRib? Then play Fierce & Nerdy’s Search for the Great McRibiography! Here’s how to win your FREE McRib: 1. Read Ryan’s Dixon’s now classic manifesto: The Five Reasons Why the McRib is the Greatest Fast Food Item of All Time 2. In the Comments section below, share your own personal [...]

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THE STRANGER’S CHILD by Alan Hollinghurst: Book Review [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Oct 11, 2011 1 Comment by

To start, let’s compare Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel The Stranger’s Child to the Boston Red Sox. In 2004, Hollinghurst won the Man Booker Prize (Britain’s highest literary award) for his previous novel, The Line of Beauty. That same year the Boston Red Sox won their first world series in 86 years. Most sports prognosticators predicted [...]

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LIFE ITSELF by Roger Ebert: Book Review [The Ryan Dixon Line]

Sep 13, 2011 5 Comments by

Every hero hears the call to adventure. So, too, then must a critic — perhaps the most passive of all protagonists — discover the stylistic and aesthetic tools needed to tell perfect strangers how to think about a work of art. In Roger Ebert’s new memoir Life Itself, the critical call to adventure occurs after [...]

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The Ever-Sinking Ship: The Historic Losing Streak of the Pittsburgh Pirates: The Ryan Dixon Line [BEST OF FaN]

Jul 08, 2011 7 Comments by

.500. For any fan of baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates, this number now has more significance than Barry Bonds’ home run record, DiMaggio’s hit streak or Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played. When I wrote the following blogumn in March, it looked like the chances of  the Pirates  finally ending this season with as many wins as losses [...]

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Your Life as My Novel: The Ryan Dixon Line [BOOK WEEK]

Jun 24, 2011 10 Comments by

I have a problem. And like most of my problems, I was the last one to know about it. In fact, I had considered this problem an attribute until last Saturday night when I was strolling through the outdoor shopping and dining district of Old Town Pasadena enjoying a fruitful, funny conversation with my companion [...]

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The Orphan Blockbuster: How We Stopped Caring and Learned to Love Unlovable Movies [The Ryan Dixon Line]

May 27, 2011 3 Comments by

Soda is delicious. But to the ancient Callatians, so was the flesh of dead relatives and nowadays no one outside of gourmand serial killers would salivate over a dish of foie gras d’ humain.  That soda and junk food have followed in the footsteps of flesh and cigarettes to become the consumptive Voldemorts of the [...]

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