Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

What Books I’m Reading This Month: TBR August 2020 (Video)

By

We’re talking about how Joyce killed the novel, why all Victorian writers (including Dostoyevsky) sound like Dickens, reading books aloud in serial form, patience vs binge-consumption culture, why I love Everyman and Loeb books, and my footnote reading challenge. What Books Are You Reading This Month? Here are links to the books I’m reading this […]

Dust Piled Up/Daijoubu Desu

By

It would soon be my turn to wash the corpse.  The undertaker had done an excellent job with the dead body. This eighty-something-year-old woman, with her twenty-something assistant, had brushed rouge into his cheeks as the light of dawn and cicada-song filled the room. Make-up or not, hair done or not, beautifully fitted cotton yukata […]

How To Destroy Male Depression Forever

By

“Depression” has morphed into a status symbol. People cry depression because it’s a convenient excuse not to be special. It also makes people feel special. Now, before everyone flames me, I’ll clarify: PTSD is real. Clinical depression is real. Post-natal depression is real. Schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar are real. Suicidal thoughts are to be taken seriously. […]

Weight Loss Tips You Should Ignore (Unless You Wanna Stay Fat)

By

Take it from this former fat tub of lard: There’s a right way to lose weight. And there’s a wrong way. Most mainstream advice on losing weight is the wrong way. The problem is a blind-leading-the-blind situation. So stop taking advice from fatsos hiding behind the keyboards, disregard “personal trainers” who don’t look the way […]

Should Schools Eliminate English Literature? (3 Reasons Why They Should)

By

English Literature should be eliminated in schools and universities across the Western world. And here’s three reasons why from an Oxford Educated English Literature student. Reason #1: Colleges professors don’t know how to teach English Literature anymore anyway. They just seek to brainwash. Today’s English Literature degree in many colleges across the Western world is […]

How to Deal with Haters

By

If you want to know how to deal with haters, that’s a good thing. It means you’re likely producing, creating, and putting things of value out into the world. It also means you have a lot of people who love what you do. No one who ever did anything of value ever went through life […]

The Marilyn Monroe Reading List: How to Read Like A Movie Star

By

Marilyn Monroe was a troubled soul. Her life was a tragic tale. If we put aside the childhood neglect, media hounding, and addiction issues, one of the greatest tragedies was the world’s inability to see her humanness. Lauded as iconic pin-up and cultivated image, few realised how intelligent, how fiercely well-read, how committed to intellectual […]

An Intellectually Ambitious 5-Year Reading Program for You

By

My aim with Hardcore Literature is to take you through our vast literary history. Reading and living the great books together. Not with a view to change the world, but to change ourselves for the better. I’m working on long-form lectures and interactive guides to help you become more well-read and develop a more robust […]

The 10 Commandments of Reading

By

Here are the 10 commandments of reading: I. Thou shalt not judge a book before understanding it.    i. One understands a book by continuously asking these two questions: What is being said? How is it being said? II. Thou shalt converse with the author, argue, and dialogue, in ink upon the page.    i. […]