Nathan Holic

Author: nholic

  • The Brat Pack: “Bright Lights, Big City”

    Jay McInernay’s Bright Lights, Big City became one of those “talked about” literary novels in the mid-’80s, a piece of literature that–perhaps because of its thematic content and its accessible or interesting voice–transcends the snobbish categorization of “literary fiction” to simply become “mainstream fiction.” McInernay himself became a sort of celebrity (as much as a…

  • The Epic Eminem Analysis

    So Eminem has just released his sixth major album (seventh, if you count the 8 Mile soundtrack), one that I’d been simultaneously anticipating and dreading ever since last summer’s supposed comeback album, Relapse. Perhaps more than any other album in my lifetime, this new disc Recovery had the potential to either immortalize or dismiss one…

  • Can the Mockumentary Truly Work as Good Fiction?

    From a technical standpoint, “Death of a President” is a remarkable little film, the “mockumentary” of what might have happened had the anti-war and anti-America movements in the U.S. and abroad led to actual assassination attempts. The film commands a modest budget, but is still able to manipulate real footage of key political figures in…

  • “Roadwork”: King’s (Forgotten) Redemption

    So, after being massively disappointed by Stephen King’s attempt at serving notice as a “literary writer” with “Lisey’s Story” (on the heels of reading the modest disappointment “Duma Key”), I started to wonder about my own fascination with and defense of King as a writer. King was the first writer I truly loved, and I…

  • Superhero Movie Rules, Wolverine-Inspired

    Some things we can learn from “X-Men Origins – Wolverine.” (1) Most superhero franchises seem to die at their third installment, as the producers toss so many characters into a single film in some impatient and misguided effort to sell more toys and generate more interest, etc., and the script collapses under all of this…

  • “Look at the Birdie”: The Vonnegut Boxed Set

    “Look at the Birdie” is the sort of quirky collection that feels more like the fulfillment of a curiosity than it does a meaningful and deliberate “collection.” It feels the same as an ultimate box set of Nirvana or Pearl Jam or even Rolling Stones material: some really good stuff, some polished songs, and then…

  • “The Road”

    Since I just saw the film, here’s the original review I wrote of “The Road” from several years ago: “The Road” is a damn-near perfect novel. I don’t know that there’s another American writer who can say so much by writing so little. Read through just a page of this book and analyze McCarthy’s prose:…

  • What Makes a Great Adaptation?

    It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a film adaptation of a novel that really engaged me. Usually, I’m bored out of my mind, no matter how technically “well made” the movie actually is. I know what’s going to happen, and I know how the characters are going to react, so why can’t we just get…

  • What Does Stephen King Need to Prove Anymore?

    I was expecting big things from “Lisey’s Story,” and maybe the let-down I suffered upon reading the novel has less to do with Stephen King’s storytelling and more to do with my own inflated expectations. After all, I read this novel five years after its initial release, and in that time, it’s been lauded and…

  • “Iron Man 2” as Post-9/11 Literature

    Back when I saw the original “Iron Man,” I called it the first major example of “Post-9/11 Literature,” the first book or movie that was not actively attempting to document our feelings about the fall of the World Trade Center and the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq and the Quagmire in Afghanistan…but…