The first issue of Richard Stockton OVERDRIVE (The caps are necessary to stress the extent of the overdrive. It’s similar to the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive.) is up on an Internet near you. (Read more…)

When I was young my dad tried to teach me these extremely complex historic hex-grid style war games. They recreated famous battles of various wars: Trenton and Princeton of the Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, The Battle of the Bulge, even Hastings and Agincourt. It was a little much for a kid of my age to learn, but nonetheless I successfully compounded my dorkiness by getting my first Dungeons And Dragons set in 5th grade. Since that time board games, and more specifically war games, have gone the way of the Dodo. They exist in dummied-down form, the notable company Avalon Hill still producing the World War II themed Axis And Allies series as a miniatures game. But the classic, complex hex-grid games I remember my dad playing are few and far between. It’s kind of a tragic loss, really. (Read more…)

If you’re into fantasy or gothic novels, and don’t mind books that run to 1020 pages, then you might like this odd “cult classic” by the British author (and painter) Mervyn Peake.

It’s usually considered, alongside Lord of the Rings, one of the great fantasy epics, but it is actually completely unlike LOTR, as its fantasy elements are subtle; rather than orcs, elves, hobbits or wraiths and/or bouts of rabid magic and mass killing, the world described here is fringed with a mystical glow — lots of centuries-old ritual, snotty aristocrats sparring off with “primitive” peoples, descriptions of castles and animals that seem to know what you’re saying, etc. It’s also quite funny, and might, in the end, be closer to Alice in Wonderland or Harry Potter than LOTR (though, again, with no magic).

The basic story concerns the Seventy-Seventh Earl of Gormenghast, Titus Groan, and the timeless world that he has been born into. We meet his incredibly depressed father, Sepulchrave, his flighty and also melancholic sister, Fuchsia, a very strange doctor named Prunesquallor and his annoying sister with the pointy nose, Irma, and Flay (played by Christopher Lee in the BBC version), the loyal but cantankerous servant to Sepulchrave.

(Read more…)

I was supposed to post about this a few days go, but what can I say — I’m unreliable.

Potluck Reading

Serving a delicious mix of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and critical essays.

Date: Wednesday Dec 5th

Time: 8 - 9:30pm

Location: F-115

Come out and read your original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or critical essay in front of a relaxed audience of Stocktonites.

(image Flickred by *Susie*)

Shoebox Review

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

When I first starting reading Joseph Heller’s 1955 classic Catch-22, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no preconceptions about the novel or even an idea of what it was about. My main source of information about the book was the blurb on the back cover and the vague notion that it was a classic. I simply picked it up and decided, on a whim, to give it a chance. In the end, it turned out to be one of the best literary decisions I’ve ever made.

The plot is simple: Yossarian is a frantic bombardier stationed on a fictional Mediterranean island during the height of World War II whose only goal is to be dismissed from duty by reason of insanity. Despite his best efforts, however; he is constantly thwarted by the notorious “catch-22”: a military law that proves his sanity by the fact that he is acting insane. The story follows him throughout his numerous attempts to prove his insanity and survive the war. The humor of Yossarian’s behavior in context of the war gives the reader images of a world that has gone mad and the repetitive futility of combat.

Since I first read it during my freshman year of high school, it’s been one of my most highly recommended books to friends and family members. It’s a fantastic novel for many, many reasons.

So why should you read it?
…..Read on

While not a pie eating contest per say, (everyone should stop ironing their bibs) the Mimi Schwartz creative nonfiction contest is a great way for a creative nonfiction writer to win some cash and recognition.

Stockton students only — sorry to all our readers from Harvard and such.

THE MIMI SCHWARTZ AWARD
FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION
$100 for Best Personal Essay

The Writing Program at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey will present the Mimi Schwartz Award for Creative Nonfiction to an undergraduate student. Deadline: December 5, 2007.

Contest Guidelines:

1. All Stockton students are eligible, as are non-matriculated students who are taking a Stockton course in the current semester.

2. One entry per student.

3. All entries must have been written during the 2006-2007 or 2007-2008 academic year.

4. Each entry must be a personal essay no longer than 15 double-spaced pages with font no smaller than 12 points.

5. Each entry must have a title, but do not put your name on the essay.

6. Please send your entry as an email attachment (Word document) to Judy Copeland at Your name, address, and phone number should appear in the email itself, but not in the attachment.

7. The deadline is December 5, 2007.

8. The winner will be announced the week of January 21-26, 2008.

(image Flickred by ren_byrd)

There’s a student nonfiction reading at Stockton on Dec 4th at 4:15pm in the TRLC. Judy Copeland is organizing the event. She’s Stockton’s go to nonfiction professor and a really excellent travel writer. She always tells these casual stories about her travels as if they are no big deal while her audience sits there flabbergasted,”so, then the bear took out a pipe and a book of Frost poems, but I didn’t panic — I called the stewardess.”

Some of her students will be reading their work and it’s always a lot of fun to hear creative versions of true stories. Check it out.

(image Flickred by Orin Optiglot)