Michael Pershan
@mpershan.bsky.social
math teacher, writer
teaching blog: pershmail.substack.com
reading/writing blog: michaelpershan.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
teaching blog: pershmail.substack.com
reading/writing blog: michaelpershan.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
Pinned
Michael Pershan
@mpershan.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Really grateful to the crew at @hexliterary.bsky.social for giving this weird story a home. I can't say enough nice things about hex! I love what they're doing.
hexliterary.com?p=2829
hexliterary.com?p=2829
Been reading Jon Raymond’s “God and Sex” and it’s weirdly in conversation with the ”The Ten-Year Affair,” especially this bit.
December 26, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Been reading Jon Raymond’s “God and Sex” and it’s weirdly in conversation with the ”The Ten-Year Affair,” especially this bit.
Not doing a big 2025 reading recap post but I looked through my little list and noticed some trends.
December 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Not doing a big 2025 reading recap post but I looked through my little list and noticed some trends.
My oldest is reading Jeeves/Wooster and I'm thinking of this banger. theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com/track/exit-i...
Exit Interview With P.G. Wodehouse, by The Paranoid Style
track by The Paranoid Style
theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:13 AM
My oldest is reading Jeeves/Wooster and I'm thinking of this banger. theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com/track/exit-i...
Rewatching STAND BY ME after rereading THE BODY and having a stupid reaction, which is that every decision in translating it to film makes the story less idiosyncratic and weird and yet it's still a pretty weird story.
December 25, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Rewatching STAND BY ME after rereading THE BODY and having a stupid reaction, which is that every decision in translating it to film makes the story less idiosyncratic and weird and yet it's still a pretty weird story.
Brings to mind what's probably my favorite short humor piece of the 21st century.
December 25, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Brings to mind what's probably my favorite short humor piece of the 21st century.
I saw Joseph carrying the gun
I saw Mary carrying the gun
The Gun The Gun The Gun
The Gun carrying The Gun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjSO...
I saw Mary carrying the gun
The Gun The Gun The Gun
The Gun carrying The Gun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjSO...
EMA "CALIFORNIA" Official Video
YouTube video by EMA BAND
www.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I saw Joseph carrying the gun
I saw Mary carrying the gun
The Gun The Gun The Gun
The Gun carrying The Gun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjSO...
I saw Mary carrying the gun
The Gun The Gun The Gun
The Gun carrying The Gun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjSO...
Reposted by Michael Pershan
Issue #31 of The American Bystander is now available! It's a Christmas Miracle! Yippeee! Now go out and buy that issue so you can see 6 pages of a glorious Trump satirical comic that @jamesfinngarner.bsky.social , Mike Gerber and I created!
online.americanbystander.org/issue-31/
online.americanbystander.org/issue-31/
Issue #31
The Last Great Humor Magazine
online.americanbystander.org
December 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Issue #31 of The American Bystander is now available! It's a Christmas Miracle! Yippeee! Now go out and buy that issue so you can see 6 pages of a glorious Trump satirical comic that @jamesfinngarner.bsky.social , Mike Gerber and I created!
online.americanbystander.org/issue-31/
online.americanbystander.org/issue-31/
The new issue of The American Bystander is here! I have a short thing in it about that time they disintered a pope and put his corpse on trial. theamericanbystanderstore.com/products/the...
December 23, 2025 at 11:21 PM
The new issue of The American Bystander is here! I have a short thing in it about that time they disintered a pope and put his corpse on trial. theamericanbystanderstore.com/products/the...
Raymond Carver: "and that poem turns out so good you're almost glad the little dog was run over..."
allpoetry.com/Your-Dog-Dies
allpoetry.com/Your-Dog-Dies
December 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Raymond Carver: "and that poem turns out so good you're almost glad the little dog was run over..."
allpoetry.com/Your-Dog-Dies
allpoetry.com/Your-Dog-Dies
I think basically all kids are using LLMs as an answer key for homework they don't know how to do, with you know the varying degrees of thoughtfulness you'd expect. Not sure if this is a big deal or not. In most cases probably not.
December 23, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I think basically all kids are using LLMs as an answer key for homework they don't know how to do, with you know the varying degrees of thoughtfulness you'd expect. Not sure if this is a big deal or not. In most cases probably not.
My backwards journey through Big Red Cheever continues with "The Fourth Alarm," weird and sexy and maybe a bit Barthelme-ish (Donald). thirdeye.tripod.com/Documents/Sh...
The Fourth Alarm--John Cheever
thirdeye.tripod.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:37 PM
My backwards journey through Big Red Cheever continues with "The Fourth Alarm," weird and sexy and maybe a bit Barthelme-ish (Donald). thirdeye.tripod.com/Documents/Sh...
Reposted by Michael Pershan
Need a book rec for a gift for an older relative. She likes historical fiction, especially things related to Europe/ Eastern Europe/ WWII. She liked the Goddess of Warsaw, All the Light You Cannot See, etc. Any suggestions?
December 22, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Need a book rec for a gift for an older relative. She likes historical fiction, especially things related to Europe/ Eastern Europe/ WWII. She liked the Goddess of Warsaw, All the Light You Cannot See, etc. Any suggestions?
Anyone by any chance have a good book with info about the Vatican Library?
December 22, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Anyone by any chance have a good book with info about the Vatican Library?
Gotta get myself some folders.
December 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Gotta get myself some folders.
My son has a friend over and they're writing a parody song about how nice it is when school ends, genetics is weird.
December 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
My son has a friend over and they're writing a parody song about how nice it is when school ends, genetics is weird.
Like most writing things I don't know if this is obvious or totally wrong or something in between, but I think the beginning and end of a story often can be worked out almost formally without a clear sense of what you want to write about...but not the middle, so in a way it's the most revealing.
December 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Like most writing things I don't know if this is obvious or totally wrong or something in between, but I think the beginning and end of a story often can be worked out almost formally without a clear sense of what you want to write about...but not the middle, so in a way it's the most revealing.
Reposted by Michael Pershan
Happy Solstice; Issue 34 of MoonPark Review is here! moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
Issue 34, Winter 2025/2026
Editors’ Note Like a Prayer Like a Poem by Lindsay Bernal Neck Pain by Yimi Lu The Stove by Tom Busillo Hi, Mr Creative Writing Tutor by Chris Cottom Beside the Golden Door by Gabriella Brand…
moonparkreview.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Happy Solstice; Issue 34 of MoonPark Review is here! moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
I'm in the latest issue of @moonparkreview.bsky.social with a story I told my family I didn't want them to read.
moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
Oh Daniel
By Michael Pershan My wife placed my hand on her leg, but when I slipped under her nightdress she pushed me away. “Are you crazy?” she said. “The kids are at the airport. They’re waiting for us!” W…
moonparkreview.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I'm in the latest issue of @moonparkreview.bsky.social with a story I told my family I didn't want them to read.
moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
For 2026 my goal will once again be to figure this whole thing out.
December 21, 2025 at 2:20 AM
For 2026 my goal will once again be to figure this whole thing out.
Whenever I've needed to feel good lately I put on Dylan doing Jokerman on Letterman and wandering around the stage looking for a harmonica in the right key (starts around 3:08). www.youtube.com/watch?v=944J...
Bob Dylan Performs "Jokerman" (1984) | David Letterman
YouTube video by Letterman
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Whenever I've needed to feel good lately I put on Dylan doing Jokerman on Letterman and wandering around the stage looking for a harmonica in the right key (starts around 3:08). www.youtube.com/watch?v=944J...
It's remarkable: before today, this awful sentence that I wrote simply did not exist.
December 19, 2025 at 3:47 PM
It's remarkable: before today, this awful sentence that I wrote simply did not exist.
Reposted by Michael Pershan
Cheever's "Artemis, The Honest Well Digger" is a very weird story (guy digs wells for a living, wants to meet "the one," sleeps with a customer, she's too much, he vacations to soviet russia where he falls for a hot babe, gets kicked out of russia, is recruited for espionage, refuses). I liked it.
December 17, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Cheever's "Artemis, The Honest Well Digger" is a very weird story (guy digs wells for a living, wants to meet "the one," sleeps with a customer, she's too much, he vacations to soviet russia where he falls for a hot babe, gets kicked out of russia, is recruited for espionage, refuses). I liked it.
Congrats, I guess?
December 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Congrats, I guess?