Matthew Specktor
@specktor.bsky.social
Novelist, memoirist, co-founder of The Los Angeles Review of Books
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
My reflections on the month of October and why it’s my Jack Kerouac and Chet Baker month. Also, what I am reading and you should read, too. Oh, and my favorite horror films.
Mentioned: @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
@jasondiamond.bsky.social
@specktor.bsky.social
billshea.com/2025/10/29/u...
Mentioned: @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
@jasondiamond.bsky.social
@specktor.bsky.social
billshea.com/2025/10/29/u...
Under October skies: Jack Kerouac, Chet Baker, and what I am reading (plus Dracula)
My reflections on the month of October and why it’s my Jack Kerouac and Chet Baker month. Also, what I am reading and you should read, too. Oh, and my favorite horror films.
billshea.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
My reflections on the month of October and why it’s my Jack Kerouac and Chet Baker month. Also, what I am reading and you should read, too. Oh, and my favorite horror films.
Mentioned: @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
@jasondiamond.bsky.social
@specktor.bsky.social
billshea.com/2025/10/29/u...
Mentioned: @lukeoneil47.bsky.social
@jasondiamond.bsky.social
@specktor.bsky.social
billshea.com/2025/10/29/u...
You mean it wasn’t actually like this?
I’m watching an illegal stream of the game on tik tok and the host has to use filters to keep the feed up so im consuming this hell game like this fyi
October 28, 2025 at 7:24 AM
You mean it wasn’t actually like this?
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
I’m watching an illegal stream of the game on tik tok and the host has to use filters to keep the feed up so im consuming this hell game like this fyi
October 28, 2025 at 5:51 AM
I’m watching an illegal stream of the game on tik tok and the host has to use filters to keep the feed up so im consuming this hell game like this fyi
Guess I picked the right night to be totally destroyed by jet lag so I could enjoy a relaxing eighteen innings of easygoing small hours baseball, just as the good lord intended
October 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Guess I picked the right night to be totally destroyed by jet lag so I could enjoy a relaxing eighteen innings of easygoing small hours baseball, just as the good lord intended
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
I did not enjoy writing this; it can't even serve as an ad for my newsletter, which I've suspended due to an overbilling situation that has me almost regretting leaving Substack. But, you know, it's evidence for the piece I just didn't get to include.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
Patron-Supported Journalism Can’t Be the Future of News
Writing about the failure of patron-supported journalism is itself a kind of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I did not enjoy writing this; it can't even serve as an ad for my newsletter, which I've suspended due to an overbilling situation that has me almost regretting leaving Substack. But, you know, it's evidence for the piece I just didn't get to include.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patro...
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
10/23/78: Stories of John Cheever
Stellar collection bagged well deserved Pulitzer
Standouts incl The Swimmer (later film w/Burt Lancaster) [ @specktor.bsky.social "the fevered delirium of suburbia in decline"] & our favorite Goodbye, My Brother
More via @tcboyle.com: www.npr.org/2006/08/17/5...
Stellar collection bagged well deserved Pulitzer
Standouts incl The Swimmer (later film w/Burt Lancaster) [ @specktor.bsky.social "the fevered delirium of suburbia in decline"] & our favorite Goodbye, My Brother
More via @tcboyle.com: www.npr.org/2006/08/17/5...
October 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM
10/23/78: Stories of John Cheever
Stellar collection bagged well deserved Pulitzer
Standouts incl The Swimmer (later film w/Burt Lancaster) [ @specktor.bsky.social "the fevered delirium of suburbia in decline"] & our favorite Goodbye, My Brother
More via @tcboyle.com: www.npr.org/2006/08/17/5...
Stellar collection bagged well deserved Pulitzer
Standouts incl The Swimmer (later film w/Burt Lancaster) [ @specktor.bsky.social "the fevered delirium of suburbia in decline"] & our favorite Goodbye, My Brother
More via @tcboyle.com: www.npr.org/2006/08/17/5...
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
Very excited to be in conversation about SQUIMBOP with the great @specktor.bsky.social
in LA this coming Tues -- we started the conversation several years ago, w/r/t DODGE CITY 2: @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social @southwestreview.bsky.social @1111press.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
in LA this coming Tues -- we started the conversation several years ago, w/r/t DODGE CITY 2: @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social @southwestreview.bsky.social @1111press.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
The Mythmaker Gazes at Himself: A Conversation with David Leo Rice | Los Angeles Review of Books
Matthew Specktor and author David Leo Rice discuss his book series, “A Room in Dodge City.”
lareviewofbooks.org
October 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Very excited to be in conversation about SQUIMBOP with the great @specktor.bsky.social
in LA this coming Tues -- we started the conversation several years ago, w/r/t DODGE CITY 2: @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social @southwestreview.bsky.social @1111press.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
in LA this coming Tues -- we started the conversation several years ago, w/r/t DODGE CITY 2: @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social @southwestreview.bsky.social @1111press.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
Every half inning of Mariners baseball
a close up of a man 's face with a few spots on it
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with a few spots on it
media.tenor.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Every half inning of Mariners baseball
Loved writing this for the good folks at @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
Matthew Specktor (@specktor.bsky.social) unwraps a fishy feud between a high priestess of California modernism and the Pope of Pop Cinema.
nyra.nyc/read-herring
nyra.nyc/read-herring
October 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Loved writing this for the good folks at @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
Really looking forward to this, on Tuesday night! Eastsiders, come through! (And don't forget to RSVP at the link . . . it's free)
LA Squimbop launch next Tues with @specktor.bsky.social and Chris Zeischegg -- RSVP here! @southwestreview.bsky.social @1111press.bsky.social @whiskeytit.com @wakeisland.bsky.social
partiful.com/e/C9AkXDbFpP...
partiful.com/e/C9AkXDbFpP...
RSVP to Book Launch: The Squimbop Condition | Partiful
David Leo Rice is the author of the novels Angel House, The New House, The Berlin Wall, and the Dodge City trilogy, as well as the story collections Drifter and The Squimbop Condition, out later this ...
partiful.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Really looking forward to this, on Tuesday night! Eastsiders, come through! (And don't forget to RSVP at the link . . . it's free)
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
Been in Los Angeles less than 24 hours and six people have asked if I’ve seen One Battle After Another and my response is “I’m on book tour. My life is one battle after another.”
Anyways. I’m talking with my king of LA @specktor.bsky.social, at Skylight tonight. I’m so psyched.
Anyways. I’m talking with my king of LA @specktor.bsky.social, at Skylight tonight. I’m so psyched.
September 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Been in Los Angeles less than 24 hours and six people have asked if I’ve seen One Battle After Another and my response is “I’m on book tour. My life is one battle after another.”
Anyways. I’m talking with my king of LA @specktor.bsky.social, at Skylight tonight. I’m so psyched.
Anyways. I’m talking with my king of LA @specktor.bsky.social, at Skylight tonight. I’m so psyched.
Good all-the-time record really. But Andrew, as usual, is on point here
September 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Good all-the-time record really. But Andrew, as usual, is on point here
Can’t get the first guy in this clip out of my head, frankly. The best kind of Italian
Italy has moved me to tears for 3 days straight. Bravo ❤️
September 28, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Can’t get the first guy in this clip out of my head, frankly. The best kind of Italian
“They own the legal system” really makes you wonder both what world these people are presently living in and whether they just forgot the multiple sets of parentheses around the “they” here
the daily caller published a call to violence of the left yesterday, a news organization that has connections to the heritage foundation
September 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
“They own the legal system” really makes you wonder both what world these people are presently living in and whether they just forgot the multiple sets of parentheses around the “they” here
Tomorrow night I’ll be at @skylightbooks.bsky.social with my pal @jasondiamond.bsky.social to discuss his rad, rad novel Kaplan’s Plot and we’d love it if you’d come through (Sandy Koufax possibly not included, tho we live in hope)
September 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Tomorrow night I’ll be at @skylightbooks.bsky.social with my pal @jasondiamond.bsky.social to discuss his rad, rad novel Kaplan’s Plot and we’d love it if you’d come through (Sandy Koufax possibly not included, tho we live in hope)
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
plenty of things going against the right globally: Bolsonaro's conviction in Brazil, the defeat of the right wing in Norway's election, the student strikes and Saba Saba protests in Kenya (brutal as the repression there was), the EU's von der Leyen pursuing sanctions and trade suspension for Israel
September 13, 2025 at 1:45 AM
plenty of things going against the right globally: Bolsonaro's conviction in Brazil, the defeat of the right wing in Norway's election, the student strikes and Saba Saba protests in Kenya (brutal as the repression there was), the EU's von der Leyen pursuing sanctions and trade suspension for Israel
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
No paywall on this LAT article (for once).
Indiscriminate ICE raids in L.A. can resume: What rights do you have?
Indiscriminate ICE raids in L.A. can resume: What rights do you have?
What are your rights after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for federal authorities to resume immigration raids in L.A.
www.latimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
No paywall on this LAT article (for once).
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
We can acknowledge this without abandoning these people to a white supremacist police state! Please imagine something beyond punishment.
“The four cities of populations larger than 100,000 with the highest murder rates in 2024 are in Republican states: Jackson, Mississippi (78.7 per 100,000 residents), Birmingham, Alabama (58.8), St Louis, Missouri (54.1) and Memphis, Tennessee (40.6).”
September 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
We can acknowledge this without abandoning these people to a white supremacist police state! Please imagine something beyond punishment.
Wrote about American Gigolo and the rise of the Armani Era for @gqmagazine.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/how-gi...
www.gq.com/story/how-gi...
How Giorgio Armani (and Richard Gere) Taught Hollywood Players to Dress Like American Gigolos
When the late fashion legend dressed Gere’s high-class escort in Paul Schrader’s 1980 demimonde classic, it started a style revolution in Hollywood that rippled from the halls of industry power to the...
www.gq.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Wrote about American Gigolo and the rise of the Armani Era for @gqmagazine.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/how-gi...
www.gq.com/story/how-gi...
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
LA friends: I'll be in conversation with the wonderful Matthew Specktor (The Golden Hour) re SHE'S UNDER HERE at Skylight Books in Los Feliz, Tues 9/16 at 7 pm. Do come out and say hi! On Sun 9/28 at 4pm, I'll sit down w/my pal Samantha Dunn (Failing Paris) at Diesel in Brentwood. It'll be fun!
September 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
LA friends: I'll be in conversation with the wonderful Matthew Specktor (The Golden Hour) re SHE'S UNDER HERE at Skylight Books in Los Feliz, Tues 9/16 at 7 pm. Do come out and say hi! On Sun 9/28 at 4pm, I'll sit down w/my pal Samantha Dunn (Failing Paris) at Diesel in Brentwood. It'll be fun!
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
Edition Release News. Please Share.
lisajanepersky.bigcartel.com
Debbie Harry, Goddess In The Hair-Light Moon
Offered for the 1st time. Taken by Persky in the "Blondie loft." Signed, numbered edition of 10. From the original b&w negative, lovingly digitized and colored by LJP
©Lisa Jane Persky 1975
lisajanepersky.bigcartel.com
Debbie Harry, Goddess In The Hair-Light Moon
Offered for the 1st time. Taken by Persky in the "Blondie loft." Signed, numbered edition of 10. From the original b&w negative, lovingly digitized and colored by LJP
©Lisa Jane Persky 1975
September 1, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Edition Release News. Please Share.
lisajanepersky.bigcartel.com
Debbie Harry, Goddess In The Hair-Light Moon
Offered for the 1st time. Taken by Persky in the "Blondie loft." Signed, numbered edition of 10. From the original b&w negative, lovingly digitized and colored by LJP
©Lisa Jane Persky 1975
lisajanepersky.bigcartel.com
Debbie Harry, Goddess In The Hair-Light Moon
Offered for the 1st time. Taken by Persky in the "Blondie loft." Signed, numbered edition of 10. From the original b&w negative, lovingly digitized and colored by LJP
©Lisa Jane Persky 1975
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
The quote is from @specktor.bsky.social's extraordinary book. Buy it *now*!:
tinhouse.com/book/always-...
tinhouse.com/book/always-...
August 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The quote is from @specktor.bsky.social's extraordinary book. Buy it *now*!:
tinhouse.com/book/always-...
tinhouse.com/book/always-...
HBD to the magnificent Tuesday Weld, who’s incandescent even in the (alas) terrible A Safe Place, truly
HBD Tuesday Weld!!
Key New Hollywood streak 1968-72: Pretty Poison, Walk the Line, Safe Place, Play it as it Lays ++
More
@specktor.bsky.social: lithub.com/inside-the-c...
@sheilakathleen.bsky.social: www.sheilaomalley.com?p=106223
L Jordan/ @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-rea...
Key New Hollywood streak 1968-72: Pretty Poison, Walk the Line, Safe Place, Play it as it Lays ++
More
@specktor.bsky.social: lithub.com/inside-the-c...
@sheilakathleen.bsky.social: www.sheilaomalley.com?p=106223
L Jordan/ @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-rea...
August 27, 2025 at 9:39 PM
HBD to the magnificent Tuesday Weld, who’s incandescent even in the (alas) terrible A Safe Place, truly
Reposted by Matthew Specktor
RT if you also wish ill upon JK Rowling.
Outcry grows after multiple trans users were targeted for mild criticisms of the anti-trans billionaire.
Bluesky silenced trans voices over J.K. Rowling, here’s why
Outcry grows after multiple trans users were targeted for mild criticisms of the anti-trans billionaire.
bit.ly
August 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM
RT if you also wish ill upon JK Rowling.