Entry-level freelancing to try out your new writing skills. — But Medium has its limits; Unless you’re one of the lucky few who manage to find thousands of attentive readers, you may hit a wall with motivation, learning or professionalism. So where to look? …

The Grand Affair, John Singer Sargent in His World by Paul Fisher — Though John Singer Sargent’s Edwardian era paintings — especially Madame X — are legendary, his personal life is little known. This book aims to rectify that and does so with rigor. With varying intimacy, Paul Fisher has written on the major events and periods in Singer Sargent’s life. An international…

A book of modern life in vibrant, distorted detail. — With some trepidation, I started Murata’s new novel. I wasn't sure what to expect from her second novel, after all, her debut was so popular and highly regarded that I have been intimidated to read it. To great surprise, I found the first chapter engrossing, interesting and thoroughly entertaining. I…

Heavily researched yet conversational and leisurely. — “It’s time to leave behind the tired nature-versus-nurture debate,” Biologist Marlene Zuk exclaims in the opening of her upcoming nonfiction book. It’s a zombie idea she says, one that has been done to death yet springs up again and again. A failure of science’s self-correction mechanisms. In fact, Zuk argues…

A Perfect Dip into the Ocean of Itch.io Games — At two million views, the recent youtube video by VideoGameDunkey has made SplendidLand’s Franken into an indie hit overnight. And rightfully so, it’s charming, short and free; what’s not to like? The game is currently an Itch.io …

An Yu’s upcoming Ghost Music is a surreal, minimalist novel about a listless piano teacher, a secretive husband, a crumpled stepmother and a vanished piano virtuoso. These characters are drawn together by three things: mushrooms, music and ghosts— The cover and title say as much. With these three symbols, Ghost…

Ecstatic Realism — Joseph Mitchell and Werner Herzog — Tthe truth of any documentary or journalistic work is always diluted. No film nor writing can capture all perspectives nor contain all details objectively. Interpretation always remains. The best one can hope is to be a fly on the wall and to avoid generalisations. Or is it? The best, recent…

A Review of the Upcoming Debut Memoir — Salted Plums — Fifteen years on from its literary sister Stealing Buddha’s Dinner and two years after its punky brother, Sigh, Gone, Salted Plums is the latest in a family of coming-of-age memoirs that examine the lives of Vietnamese-American Immigrants. …

I was twelve when I left my desert mining town. It was Christmas and we got a Nintendo Wii. That summer we played Wii Sports. — A week after release, the consensus seems to be that Switch Sports is good, but not great; A small step forward from its predecessor, Wii Sports, and not much else. The new Switch Sports game is a toy just the same as Wii Sports was a toy. Some sports have…