Pluralistic: Lee Lai's "Cannon" (08 May 2026)

Today's links

Lee Lai's "Cannon": A beautiful, subtle, long-lingering tale of duty, sex, and working for a shitty restaurant boss.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Ebay paying to run newspaper classifieds; Chuck Tingle v Sad Puppies; FBI v TOR; Daycare v Goldman Sachs; Scammers re-used covid nose-swabs; "The Adventures of Mary Darling."
Upcoming appearances: Guelph, Barcelona, Berlin, Hay-on-Wye, London, NYC, Edinburgh.
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.

Blue states should play "constitutional hardball": Scooping up medical professionals, teachers, doctors and anyone with a trans kid.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2014, 2019, 2023
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.

Nalo Hopkinson's "Blackheart Man": Language and worldbuilding to drown in, and a cracking novel besides.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
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.

Emil Ferris's long-awaited "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two": A tour-de-force that was worth the wait.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
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.

The cruelty isn't the point: The point is power.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2002, 2012, 2017.
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Solnit on the revelations of crisis: Pandemic speeds up processes that were too slow to notice.
Nurse suspended for distributing crowdfunded PPE: Shame on Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Cleveland Plain Dealer executed by union-busting owners: Firing health reporters during a pandemic.
Monster-themed covid pinup PSAs: By Alejandra Oviedo.
The Onion on Wisconsin's election: We need strategic Onion reserves for all our calamities.
NSO Group says Facebook tried to buy its malware: NSO is worse than Facebook, but it's a close-run thing.
How to pay for covid: Unearthing Keynes's "How to Pay for the War."
Smart lock hemorrhages user data: And it broadcasts its unlock code over Bluetooth.
TSA wanted to inspect 16 year old trans girl's genitals: Jon Corbett is on the case.
Roger Fuckebythenavele vs Bannatyne Manuscript: Black Plague-era f-bomb eclipsed by 14th century frottage artist.
Rube Goldberg feeding device: Now that's physical comedy.
Public domain Zoom backgrounds: Fantastic backdrops for an absurd moment.
This day in history: 2010, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading