Pluralistic: Theodora Goss's 'Letters From an Imaginary Country' (11 Nov 2025)

Today's links

Theodora Goss's 'Letters From an Imaginary Country': Short stories so expertly spun you'll hardly know you've been ensnared.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: "Agent To the Stars"; Smart TV spying; 3D printing and the law; Google open sources AI; Microchip "dark matter."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

"Science Comics Computers: How Digital Hardware Works": Steampunk dinosaurs scratch-build a pressurized air-based, Turing complete, universal von Neumann machine.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Google Print vs Great Ormond; Lincolnbot; "Zoo City"; Killed by your tapeworm's cancer; NZ Colossus; How to have cancer.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Raymond Biesinger's "9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off": A self-defense guide for creative workers.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Gingerbread Phantom Manor; Orwell estate censors 1984; The Abbadon; Ferris wheel fine dining.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Carl Hiaasen's 'Fever Beach': If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Scary Godmother; Nightvale novel; The war on Worker's Comp; Cadillac's murdermobiles.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Melissa Mendes's "The Weight": Graphic novel as emotional roller-coaster.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Windows 10 killswitch; Ashley Madison copyfraud; Ulysses pacts; "Blackheart Man."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Charlie Jane Anders' "Lessons in Magic and Disaster.": Families, they fuck you up (magically).
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: HST in space; It Plays Doom; Deserted Chinese themeparks; Banksy's Dismaland; Dollars are better than warrants; "Fuck the algorithm."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Mattie Lubchansky's 'Simplicity': A tale of walled cities, omnisexual communes, and Cthulhoid horrors.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: MP3s on punchcards; German Potter fan-trans; Healthy Boundary Tree.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Ellen Ullman's "Close to the Machine": "Technophilia and Its Discontents."
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Unethical ethicists; McKinsey covid profiteering; Homeschool-to-prison pipeline
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Tessa Hulls's "Feeding Ghosts": A phantasmagorical memoir of intergenerational trauma and reconciliation.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Toronto G20 police riot, why I'm leaving London, BBC's Right to Be Forgotten pages, breaking up Google, Female Furies
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

Bill Griffith's 'Three Rocks': The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, the Man Who Created Nancy.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.