John Williams
@johnwilliams.bsky.social
Books editor at Washington Post. Apollonian/Order Muppet. Highly sociable misanthrope.
Shot.
<nine months pass>
Chaser.
<nine months pass>
Chaser.
November 11, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Shot.
<nine months pass>
Chaser.
<nine months pass>
Chaser.
Cuomo’s opponent in the finale, for condo president:
November 8, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Cuomo’s opponent in the finale, for condo president:
Lordy, that’s a first half.
November 3, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Lordy, that’s a first half.
Quick gut check: This seems legit, right?
October 23, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Quick gut check: This seems legit, right?
Welcome to America:
October 19, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Welcome to America:
Me giving writing advice:
October 13, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Me giving writing advice:
At a hotel bar in Dublin and feeling pretty good about things (for 30 minutes or so — I’ll take it!).
October 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM
At a hotel bar in Dublin and feeling pretty good about things (for 30 minutes or so — I’ll take it!).
Not to take away an ounce of Chotiner's interviewing talent, but a lot of what people marvel at is what people just ... say. "I want to make sure *you* can hear you."
September 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Not to take away an ounce of Chotiner's interviewing talent, but a lot of what people marvel at is what people just ... say. "I want to make sure *you* can hear you."
Dan Piepenbring in a review in the new Harper’s of Cory Doctorow’s “Enshittification.”
September 16, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Dan Piepenbring in a review in the new Harper’s of Cory Doctorow’s “Enshittification.”
In an effort to move 2 percent back in the direction of sanity today, I read Saul Bellow's Paris Review interview from 1966. And it worked! I only feel 98 percent insane! Choice excerpts:
September 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
In an effort to move 2 percent back in the direction of sanity today, I read Saul Bellow's Paris Review interview from 1966. And it worked! I only feel 98 percent insane! Choice excerpts:
Just manifesting my semi-retirement plan again.
(Photo from "The Bookshop" by Evan Friss.)
(Photo from "The Bookshop" by Evan Friss.)
September 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Just manifesting my semi-retirement plan again.
(Photo from "The Bookshop" by Evan Friss.)
(Photo from "The Bookshop" by Evan Friss.)
Fawn Hall? We haven't heard that name in years.
September 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Fawn Hall? We haven't heard that name in years.
I guarantee an AI-generated CEO could (and will soon) say this for *much, much* cheaper than Wright.
September 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
I guarantee an AI-generated CEO could (and will soon) say this for *much, much* cheaper than Wright.
Making a resolution to keep up with these more regularly as print experiences. One of the connecting strands between me now and 19-year-old me. This is a great issue.
September 7, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Making a resolution to keep up with these more regularly as print experiences. One of the connecting strands between me now and 19-year-old me. This is a great issue.
I realize there are timing issues to figure out here, but has Hulk Hogan, somehow, been reincarnated as Bill Simmons?
September 4, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I realize there are timing issues to figure out here, but has Hulk Hogan, somehow, been reincarnated as Bill Simmons?
Beyond the intellectual level, the entertainment value is not hurt, at all, by the fact that the book's author looks like this. ("Oh, hello. Do you think me a fraud? Do you think me *mad*?!")
August 25, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Beyond the intellectual level, the entertainment value is not hurt, at all, by the fact that the book's author looks like this. ("Oh, hello. Do you think me a fraud? Do you think me *mad*?!")
I return to this review from time to time as an exemplar of one type of the art. It gets granular, of course, but I love this umbrella statement near the top. www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/b...
August 25, 2025 at 11:32 PM
I return to this review from time to time as an exemplar of one type of the art. It gets granular, of course, but I love this umbrella statement near the top. www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/b...
Have once again happened upon my box of “odd books” for a display in the store I will open one day.
August 23, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Have once again happened upon my box of “odd books” for a display in the store I will open one day.
Going through old boxes. This didn’t age well.
August 22, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Going through old boxes. This didn’t age well.
Took me longer than I expected to finish this — it is episodic and digressive, true, and also my brain is broken. But at nearly all times while actually reading it, I was thoroughly entertained.
August 3, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Took me longer than I expected to finish this — it is episodic and digressive, true, and also my brain is broken. But at nearly all times while actually reading it, I was thoroughly entertained.
You all rightfully give Waxahatchee her millions of listens, but meanwhile the '90s-demo-sounding treats on this album of hers (under a different name) are sitting at 1,200 and such. Two favorites: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmS4... and www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdoP...
July 14, 2025 at 10:57 PM
You all rightfully give Waxahatchee her millions of listens, but meanwhile the '90s-demo-sounding treats on this album of hers (under a different name) are sitting at 1,200 and such. Two favorites: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmS4... and www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdoP...
Just came across this Nietzsche line, and realize that it might be the inspiration for a Cioran line I love.
July 13, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Just came across this Nietzsche line, and realize that it might be the inspiration for a Cioran line I love.
I need a serious brain freshening, so.
July 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I need a serious brain freshening, so.