How the state exploits public rage to discipline the population.
The state of rage: The American sexual dystopia
The sewage system, or What is fascism?
How fascism works, with a special emphasis on the USA.
Toilet terror
The surprising matter revealed when we really look into the toilet and everything it stands for.
The classic coffeehouse: Ten essentials
A visual tour of coffeehouses around the world by a connoisseur, with a few pointers of advice.
Multilingualism and the time travel novel
Writers who play carelessly with time may leave the language in tatters.
Isham Cook on Twitter
Literary disruptions of an American in China.
Magic Theater Books on Facebook
Isham Cook’s latest books and blogs and other news on related topics.
American Rococo: Essays on the Edge
Essays on Western culture ranging from the last Ice Age to the Renaissance to contemporary America’s obsessions and hysterias.
Anglish and English: Why our language is 750 and not 1,500 years old
The conventional history of English force-fed to university students benefits no one but the academic textbook business and its tired stakeholders.
My problem with the atheists (it’s not what you think)
An atheist patiently explains why most atheists are really believers in disguise.
From Van Gogh to the Camino de Santiago: Symbolic travel and the modern pilgrim
The exponential growth in international tourism seen in the context of European travel and tourism stretching back a millennium.
John Dowland and the lost English Consort School of chamber music
England was home to the first great school of classical chamber music, preceding the Viennese School of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven by two centuries.
Why Airbnb ain’t my cup of tea
The ambiguous host/guest boundary in many Airbnb households makes for most inhospitable stays.
American rococo
The rococoesque beauty of the American ghetto and the obese.
Philip Glass and Tan Dun
The two most prominent American composers of our time have more in common than it would seem.
ISHAM COOK 