Nathan Holic

Category: Millennial Literature

  • The Epic Eminem Analysis Part VI: “Square Dance” and “Soldier”

    The following is part of a series of essays I’ve been writing on the “character arcs” and dramatic story structure of the Eminem CDs. I apologize if they’re excruciating, or (if you like them) if the wait between essays is excruciating. Life is busy. But click here to start at the start. previous: The Eminem…

  • The Evolution of Clutter

    The latest episode of my home decor catalogue/ graphic novel “Clutter” is now available at Small Doggies Magazine online. If you’ve been following along, this is Part #9, and the married couple is starting to get down to business in the remodel of their new home. If you haven’t been following along, I’ve pasted the…

  • The Epic Eminem Analysis: Part V

    So how do the conflicts for the characters in Eminem’s albums come to resolution in The Eminem Show? In this post, I’ll take a look at a few of the opening songs to try to show how individual themes are tied up, and how individual characters in the Eminem story either take a bow, one…

  • CLUTTER!

    I’m excited to announce that my serialized graphic novel, “Clutter,” has officially gone live at Smalldoggies Magazine.  Click here to read the first installment…It’s a story told in the form of a home decor catalogue, and I’m eager to hear how I did. Make sure to leave comments on the site, and check back every…

  • The Epic Eminem Analysis: Part IV

    The Eminem Show: An Introduction I wasn’t alive back in the 1960s or 1970s, so I have no idea what sort of excitement was generated by the release of a new Beatles album or by the next Led Zeppelin record. Everyone has seen clips of The Ed Sullivan Show, of fans lined up on dirty…

  • I Just Want My Pants Back

    I didn’t have high hopes for David J. Rosen’s I Just Want My Pants Back. I remember putting it on my Amazon wish list several years back, when I was first reading about “fratire” and searching through Amazon’s unending hyperlinked recommendations, one after the next. This was 2007 or 2008, maybe, and I had the…

  • Paranormal Activity II, and the Motivations of Demons

    I’ve learned not to expect too much from horror sequels. Last week, after all, I watched Lost Boys: The Thirst, and I don’t need to write a review to tell you how that one turned out. And anyone remember Blair Witch 2, which was much slicker than the original but which took that franchise into…

  • Couch – Benjamin Parzybok

    “Couch” is a bizarre little novel, the story of three young men (“slackers,” as the blurbs tell us) who become attached to a couch, then become commanded or compelled to undertake a “Lord of the Rings”-style journey whose mission is to return this couch (an ancient and magical artifact, we learn) to its rightful place,…

  • Refresh, Refresh

    I remember reading a couple stories from Benjamin Percy in Esquire awhile back, and each of them was haunting, the type of short story that stayed with you long after you finished reading. For my money, at least, that’s the sort of story that I love: the kind that is not easily dismissed, that kind…

  • The Epic Eminem Analysis: Part III

    The Marshall Mathers LP: The Curse The characters had been introduced, and the world had formed its opinions: critical reception had been recorded in daily newspapers, in the glossy magazines; television personalities had registered disgust or elation at the release of The Slim Shady LP and the subsequent collaborations with Dr. Dre and B.I.G.; other…