matthew schratz
@mattschratz.bsky.social
celebrate valentine's day by reading this thing i wrote last year about geoffrey chaucer: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/parliament...
Parliament Fowladelic
I apologize for the title
shooktownreview.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:14 PM
celebrate valentine's day by reading this thing i wrote last year about geoffrey chaucer: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/parliament...
Reposted by matthew schratz
would you like to read, six months after the piece came out, my thoughts on kelefa sanneh's article about whether music critics are too nice? well, have i got the url for you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/sweet-thur...
Sweet Thursday
A long walk about music criticism, context, and the album I've listened to the most in the last six months (and also John Steinbeck)
shooktownreview.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:29 AM
would you like to read, six months after the piece came out, my thoughts on kelefa sanneh's article about whether music critics are too nice? well, have i got the url for you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/sweet-thur...
would you like to read, six months after the piece came out, my thoughts on kelefa sanneh's article about whether music critics are too nice? well, have i got the url for you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/sweet-thur...
Sweet Thursday
A long walk about music criticism, context, and the album I've listened to the most in the last six months (and also John Steinbeck)
shooktownreview.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:29 AM
would you like to read, six months after the piece came out, my thoughts on kelefa sanneh's article about whether music critics are too nice? well, have i got the url for you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/sweet-thur...
Five classes I took in college:
1) Great Big Books
2) Hegel: Freedom and History
3) Wonder
4) Plato's Socrates and the Sophists
5) Samuel Johnson and the Literary Tradition
1) Great Big Books
2) Hegel: Freedom and History
3) Wonder
4) Plato's Socrates and the Sophists
5) Samuel Johnson and the Literary Tradition
Never mind the jobs you had, five classes you took in college:
1). Heterodox Global Political Economy
2). Television and Black Struggle
3). Marguerite Duras (en francais)
4). The Frankfurt School
5). Calculus III
1). Heterodox Global Political Economy
2). Television and Black Struggle
3). Marguerite Duras (en francais)
4). The Frankfurt School
5). Calculus III
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. History of Science from Galileo to Newton
2. Kant's First Critique
3. Game Theory and Politics
4. Tolkien and Modern English Culture
5. Theological Hermeneutics
1. History of Science from Galileo to Newton
2. Kant's First Critique
3. Game Theory and Politics
4. Tolkien and Modern English Culture
5. Theological Hermeneutics
January 31, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Five classes I took in college:
1) Great Big Books
2) Hegel: Freedom and History
3) Wonder
4) Plato's Socrates and the Sophists
5) Samuel Johnson and the Literary Tradition
1) Great Big Books
2) Hegel: Freedom and History
3) Wonder
4) Plato's Socrates and the Sophists
5) Samuel Johnson and the Literary Tradition
Reposted by matthew schratz
“This final disruption gives us a small way to learn from the past—to just look at all of it; to try to find meaning as we can, and to hope for better results when we chisel our own runes onto rocks.”
Matthew Schratz revisits “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart.”
Matthew Schratz revisits “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart.”
B-Sides: Lydia Millet’s “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” - Public Books
Nowadays, if you wish to seek the wisdom of past ages—to look for wisdom or help from Socrates or Machiavelli or Abraham Lincoln—there is ChatGPT for
www.publicbooks.org
January 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM
“This final disruption gives us a small way to learn from the past—to just look at all of it; to try to find meaning as we can, and to hope for better results when we chisel our own runes onto rocks.”
Matthew Schratz revisits “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart.”
Matthew Schratz revisits “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart.”
Reposted by matthew schratz
How do we make meaning from history? Lydia Millet’s 2005 novel “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” offers a path forward when history “means too much.”
B-Sides: Lydia Millet’s “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” - Public Books
Nowadays, if you wish to seek the wisdom of past ages—to look for wisdom or help from Socrates or Machiavelli or Abraham Lincoln—there is ChatGPT for
www.publicbooks.org
January 25, 2026 at 5:05 PM
How do we make meaning from history? Lydia Millet’s 2005 novel “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” offers a path forward when history “means too much.”
Reposted by matthew schratz
“The novel forces us to contemplate the gap between the meaning of three nice men who want the world to forswear nuclear weapons, and three men who brought about a world in which a relatively small number of atoms can reduce cities to nearly nothing.”
B-Sides: Lydia Millet’s “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” - Public Books
Nowadays, if you wish to seek the wisdom of past ages—to look for wisdom or help from Socrates or Machiavelli or Abraham Lincoln—there is ChatGPT for
www.publicbooks.org
January 22, 2026 at 7:18 PM
“The novel forces us to contemplate the gap between the meaning of three nice men who want the world to forswear nuclear weapons, and three men who brought about a world in which a relatively small number of atoms can reduce cities to nearly nothing.”
I wrote a B-Side at Public Books, about Lydia Millet's great Oh Pure and Radiant Heart--enjoy!
New at PB: In our latest B-Side, @mattschratz.bsky.social revisits Lydia Millet’s beautiful and bizarre “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart.”
B-Sides: Lydia Millet’s “Oh Pure and Radiant Heart” - Public Books
Nowadays, if you wish to seek the wisdom of past ages—to look for wisdom or help from Socrates or Machiavelli or Abraham Lincoln—there is ChatGPT for
www.publicbooks.org
January 21, 2026 at 6:50 PM
I wrote a B-Side at Public Books, about Lydia Millet's great Oh Pure and Radiant Heart--enjoy!
now that studios are apparently never going to make a good movie again, my strategy of neglecting to watch most movies has paid off--there will be plenty that's new to me
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
now that studios are apparently never going to make a good movie again, my strategy of neglecting to watch most movies has paid off--there will be plenty that's new to me
my favorite part in "who's on first" is when costello exhibits his frustration by yelling "SAME AS YOU!" at abbott
December 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM
my favorite part in "who's on first" is when costello exhibits his frustration by yelling "SAME AS YOU!" at abbott
my dog is not doing well with daylight savings time at all
November 20, 2025 at 12:05 AM
my dog is not doing well with daylight savings time at all
Reposted by matthew schratz
for years, people have demanded to know: what do i think the henry james story "the beast in the jungle" has in common with the wordlebot? well, i am finally ready to tell you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/what-is-it...
What Is It Like to Be a Bot in the Jungle?
James, Nagel, WordleBot
shooktownreview.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:10 PM
for years, people have demanded to know: what do i think the henry james story "the beast in the jungle" has in common with the wordlebot? well, i am finally ready to tell you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/what-is-it...
for years, people have demanded to know: what do i think the henry james story "the beast in the jungle" has in common with the wordlebot? well, i am finally ready to tell you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/what-is-it...
What Is It Like to Be a Bot in the Jungle?
James, Nagel, WordleBot
shooktownreview.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:10 PM
for years, people have demanded to know: what do i think the henry james story "the beast in the jungle" has in common with the wordlebot? well, i am finally ready to tell you: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/what-is-it...
i am worried that i am not going to "get" the band geese
September 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
i am worried that i am not going to "get" the band geese
i bet your life is great if you really love the tv show DEXTER
September 5, 2025 at 5:32 PM
i bet your life is great if you really love the tv show DEXTER
sometimes i spin around to get the lee child paperback that's behind the couch: that's when i revolve for my reacher
July 24, 2025 at 2:42 AM
sometimes i spin around to get the lee child paperback that's behind the couch: that's when i revolve for my reacher
Reposted by matthew schratz
i have been working on this for a really long time: i have revivified my blog to write about vladimir nabokov's pnin, and why i find it good to think about currently: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/the-unethi...
The Unethical Avalanche
How Nabokov helps me think about living among lies
shooktownreview.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
i have been working on this for a really long time: i have revivified my blog to write about vladimir nabokov's pnin, and why i find it good to think about currently: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/the-unethi...
i have been working on this for a really long time: i have revivified my blog to write about vladimir nabokov's pnin, and why i find it good to think about currently: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/the-unethi...
The Unethical Avalanche
How Nabokov helps me think about living among lies
shooktownreview.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
i have been working on this for a really long time: i have revivified my blog to write about vladimir nabokov's pnin, and why i find it good to think about currently: shooktownreview.substack.com/p/the-unethi...
i used to get emails from laura gillen's dumb campaign asking for money all the time, and i was generally mad (i am not in her district or anything) and now that i know that she sucks, i'm specifically mad!
June 29, 2025 at 2:21 AM
i used to get emails from laura gillen's dumb campaign asking for money all the time, and i was generally mad (i am not in her district or anything) and now that i know that she sucks, i'm specifically mad!
people should be less proud of how fucking lazy and cruel they are
June 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM
people should be less proud of how fucking lazy and cruel they are
Reposted by matthew schratz
Having a Great Time Being Transgender in America Lately, by Jackie Sabbagh
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
November 11, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Having a Great Time Being Transgender in America Lately, by Jackie Sabbagh
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
Reposted by matthew schratz
I try not to be hyperbolic but this is the single worst comic I have ever seen in my entire life.
June 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I try not to be hyperbolic but this is the single worst comic I have ever seen in my entire life.
a further humiliation of all of us, and of language, that we are asked to call this stupid and hateful thing "the one big beautiful bill"
May 25, 2025 at 12:09 AM
a further humiliation of all of us, and of language, that we are asked to call this stupid and hateful thing "the one big beautiful bill"
happy steely dan day (may 19)
May 19, 2025 at 1:23 PM
happy steely dan day (may 19)