Austin Grossman
@grossman.bsky.social
Track 1: Author of Soon I Will Be Invincible, You, Crooked, and Fight Me. Literary world's best-kept secret.
Track 2: Game designer & narrative designer.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/446205/fight-me-by-grossman-aust
Track 2: Game designer & narrative designer.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/446205/fight-me-by-grossman-aust
beast mode
There is no Saturday for you. Go write your book
February 7, 2026 at 4:23 PM
beast mode
Imagine if drinking while writing were actually a smart thing to do.
February 2, 2026 at 4:01 AM
Imagine if drinking while writing were actually a smart thing to do.
Barista reading Less Than Zero is not taking questions
January 31, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Barista reading Less Than Zero is not taking questions
Reposted by Austin Grossman
This article from 2014: US Border Agents Intentionally Stepped in Front of Moving Vehicles to Justify Shooting at Them.
And remember, Jonathan Ross was a firearms trainer, a veteran, and spent over a decade working for DHS.
And remember, Jonathan Ross was a firearms trainer, a veteran, and spent over a decade working for DHS.
January 11, 2026 at 2:45 PM
This article from 2014: US Border Agents Intentionally Stepped in Front of Moving Vehicles to Justify Shooting at Them.
And remember, Jonathan Ross was a firearms trainer, a veteran, and spent over a decade working for DHS.
And remember, Jonathan Ross was a firearms trainer, a veteran, and spent over a decade working for DHS.
A startling encounter at @portersqbooks.bsky.social in Cambridge, MA. I didn’t *quite* get that it’s on shelves in the U.S.
December 29, 2025 at 10:41 PM
A startling encounter at @portersqbooks.bsky.social in Cambridge, MA. I didn’t *quite* get that it’s on shelves in the U.S.
@samlakewrites.bsky.social Just started Control and I think the writing's top-notch, a refreshing angle on story moments that could have felt stock.
December 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
@samlakewrites.bsky.social Just started Control and I think the writing's top-notch, a refreshing angle on story moments that could have felt stock.
Reposted by Austin Grossman
Thank you @emilystjams.bsky.social for reminding me of the existence of this @themountaingoats.bsky.social banger: youtu.be/z-lwTmJtEsg
the Mountain Goats - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
YouTube video by Josh Keck
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Thank you @emilystjams.bsky.social for reminding me of the existence of this @themountaingoats.bsky.social banger: youtu.be/z-lwTmJtEsg
It's annoying but true that the all-time best writing advice is "go for a walk."
December 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It's annoying but true that the all-time best writing advice is "go for a walk."
Wait. Wait.
Top Gun: Maverick and F1 were directed by the same person who directed the Gears of War ad with the slowed-down version of "Mad World."
!!
youtu.be/_ojz7Jd_MKY?...
Top Gun: Maverick and F1 were directed by the same person who directed the Gears of War ad with the slowed-down version of "Mad World."
!!
youtu.be/_ojz7Jd_MKY?...
Gears of War "Mad World" Official Trailer
YouTube video by GOWSeriesVideos
youtu.be
December 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Wait. Wait.
Top Gun: Maverick and F1 were directed by the same person who directed the Gears of War ad with the slowed-down version of "Mad World."
!!
youtu.be/_ojz7Jd_MKY?...
Top Gun: Maverick and F1 were directed by the same person who directed the Gears of War ad with the slowed-down version of "Mad World."
!!
youtu.be/_ojz7Jd_MKY?...
Only a true hero can slay the Dragon of Light Duty Emissions Tailpipe Regulation.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Revealed: how Toyota uses retro-style games and prizes to urge US workers to lobby politicians
Games such as Dragon Quest used to mobilize workers to back corporate goals including relaxing environmental rules
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Only a true hero can slay the Dragon of Light Duty Emissions Tailpipe Regulation.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Deep in my laptop's folder hierarchy, Chrome has generated english_wikipedia.txt, a file of exactly 30,000 words. Apparently in order of frequency (the first word is "the"). The first noun comes at word twenty: doc. Word fifty is year. Word 29,992 is hemsworth. Word 30,000 is evaporator.
December 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Deep in my laptop's folder hierarchy, Chrome has generated english_wikipedia.txt, a file of exactly 30,000 words. Apparently in order of frequency (the first word is "the"). The first noun comes at word twenty: doc. Word fifty is year. Word 29,992 is hemsworth. Word 30,000 is evaporator.
Reposted by Austin Grossman
“The president inhabits a position of moral leadership. When the president and his officials sell their policies, they’re selling a version of what it means to be an American”
I wrote about the Trump administration, the boat strikes, and St. Augustine.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
I wrote about the Trump administration, the boat strikes, and St. Augustine.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
Opinion | Trump’s Boat Strikes Corrode America’s Soul
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:37 AM
“The president inhabits a position of moral leadership. When the president and his officials sell their policies, they’re selling a version of what it means to be an American”
I wrote about the Trump administration, the boat strikes, and St. Augustine.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
I wrote about the Trump administration, the boat strikes, and St. Augustine.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...
From the City/Town Encounters Table, Dungeon Master's Guide 1st Edition. We learned a lot.
#tagyourself #ad&d #beastmode
#tagyourself #ad&d #beastmode
December 1, 2025 at 1:17 PM
From the City/Town Encounters Table, Dungeon Master's Guide 1st Edition. We learned a lot.
#tagyourself #ad&d #beastmode
#tagyourself #ad&d #beastmode
reported to me
“I’m at the Harvard Yale game and and the Yale fans are interspersing, ‘Harvard sucks’ with ‘Larry Summers!’”
a pretty sick burn, we admit
“I’m at the Harvard Yale game and and the Yale fans are interspersing, ‘Harvard sucks’ with ‘Larry Summers!’”
a pretty sick burn, we admit
November 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
reported to me
“I’m at the Harvard Yale game and and the Yale fans are interspersing, ‘Harvard sucks’ with ‘Larry Summers!’”
a pretty sick burn, we admit
“I’m at the Harvard Yale game and and the Yale fans are interspersing, ‘Harvard sucks’ with ‘Larry Summers!’”
a pretty sick burn, we admit
The Secret History: MAGA ur-text,
or merely a prescient allegory?
or merely a prescient allegory?
November 22, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The Secret History: MAGA ur-text,
or merely a prescient allegory?
or merely a prescient allegory?
I can't have been more than ten when I opened a book of Sophocles in father's study and read this passage.
"Sir," I thought to myself, "I like the cut of your jib."
"Sir," I thought to myself, "I like the cut of your jib."
November 16, 2025 at 7:56 AM
I can't have been more than ten when I opened a book of Sophocles in father's study and read this passage.
"Sir," I thought to myself, "I like the cut of your jib."
"Sir," I thought to myself, "I like the cut of your jib."
George Elliot’s prose has this bulldozer quality that drives forward slowly but with inexorable force and thoroughness
October 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
George Elliot’s prose has this bulldozer quality that drives forward slowly but with inexorable force and thoroughness
Reposted by Austin Grossman
In other scientific literature news, a quantitative linguist published a study comparing the literary output of identical twins. My brother Austin and I were part of the dataset www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YFIRR...
Do Identical Twins Write Identically? Evidence from Authorship Attribution
This study investigates the writing styles of identical twins to determine if their shared genetics result in identical writing. We used computational authorship analysis techniques on writing samp...
www.tandfonline.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
In other scientific literature news, a quantitative linguist published a study comparing the literary output of identical twins. My brother Austin and I were part of the dataset www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YFIRR...
Google Books Ngram Viewer
Google Ngrams: spooktacular, 1800-2022
books.google.com
September 28, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Call it "The Meta." It's...I don't know man just try it.
September 18, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Call it "The Meta." It's...I don't know man just try it.
leaving this up for a bit
"I never imagined I would see fear spread so far and fast in the US."
This from the writer who gave us definitive accounts of East Germany and other late state socialist societies in the 1980s.
This from the writer who gave us definitive accounts of East Germany and other late state socialist societies in the 1980s.
400 days to save US democracy. My latest, based on a long summer in the US. How Trump is exploiting structural weaknesses of the American system & why all democrats must want Democrats to win November 2026 midterms.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
September 18, 2025 at 12:31 AM
leaving this up for a bit
Reposted by Austin Grossman
“Be careful what you wish for, is the moral of the story, except when the moral is something more like: unless, what if, if only.”
Short fiction by @lytagold.bsky.social, now online from our Summer issue.
Short fiction by @lytagold.bsky.social, now online from our Summer issue.
What You Deserve
Be careful what you wish for , is the moral of the story, except when the moral is something more like: unless, what if, if only .
jewishcurrents.org
September 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM
“Be careful what you wish for, is the moral of the story, except when the moral is something more like: unless, what if, if only.”
Short fiction by @lytagold.bsky.social, now online from our Summer issue.
Short fiction by @lytagold.bsky.social, now online from our Summer issue.
Announcement: my new book is BEAST MODE
September 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Announcement: my new book is BEAST MODE