About This Blog
“As readers, most of us, to some degree, are like those urchins who pencil mustaches on the faces of girls in advertisements.”
—W.H. Auden, “Reading”
The web is awash with intensely negative criticism, often delivered with no more thought or insight than a kid’s scrawled obscenity on bathroom stall. On this blog, I attempt to do better: here you’ll find positive and well-considered commentary on books, movies, music, and other creative works.
In the essay quoted above, Auden points out that there’s not much point in writing negative criticism in any case. “Bad art is always with us,” he notes, and given time, it will fade from memory perfectly well on its own. Far better, then, to devote your precious time, energy, and mindspace to promoting those creative works that are actually worth your attention.
I’m particularly interested in literary fiction, independent music and cinema, and matters of environment and culture. I’m fascinated by sincere, passionate, and well-crafted art, and also by questions about what it means to be an urbanite, an environmentalist, and an engaged, self-aware citizen of both real and virtual worlds.
—Ryan Michael Williams
Summer wildflowers in Chicago
About Me
My book reviews have appeared in The Quarterly Conversation, Rain Taxi, ForeWord,
Identity Theory, and PopMatters. I grew up in Decatur, Illinois, and now reside in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Contact Information
If you have something to say, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment here on the blog. You can contact me at scatteringpoems (an email address from Yahoo).
About the Photographs on This Site
Header photograph and photo icons by Christopher Taylor Timberlake, photographer and jeweler extraordinaire. Please visit his website.
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