Kai Maristed
@kaimaristed.bsky.social
Novelist, playwright, translator, recovering management consultant. Ploughshares, AGNI, Iowa, Five Points, others. New prize-winning collection coming in Nov. Anti-poverty and climate activist. I brake for spiders. www.kaimaristed.com
A new Point de Vue! post. Go to Paris, have a look...
kaimaristed.substack.com/p/fraternite...
kaimaristed.substack.com/p/fraternite...
Fraternité in Action
According to a certain (immigrant) American billionaire oligarch, empathy is a sloppy weakness, fatal to any country that aspires to world dominance.
kaimaristed.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 11:06 PM
A new Point de Vue! post. Go to Paris, have a look...
kaimaristed.substack.com/p/fraternite...
kaimaristed.substack.com/p/fraternite...
A new post from Kai's Paris letter, Point de Vue. 'Gangsters at the Gates.'
Gangsters at the Gates
The sun-soaked, Phoenician-founded port of Marseilles has long been famous for its succulent bouillabaise, formidable soccer talents, and, in long-ago decades, blood-thirsty gang vs gang subculture. But while the cocaine trade of the ‘sixties and ‘seventies, as dramatized in the iconic film The French Connection, has faded from public awareness, it never went away. What goes underground eventually will surface. This year, from mid-April into May, prisons all over France holding drug kingpins have been battered by a blitzkrieg of attacks—Molotov cocktails, AK-47s, drones, torching of officials’ cars, and death-threats and rape-threats to guards, particularly those in charge of the…
pointdevueparis.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:33 PM
A new post from Kai's Paris letter, Point de Vue. 'Gangsters at the Gates.'
My new review of a long-admired writer, for LARB--
"'The Director' is not a fictionalized biography but a fictional interpretation of an historical figure about whom much remains obscure." @kaimaristed.bsky.social reviews the new translation of Austro-German author Daniel Kehlmann's 2023 novel. lareviewofbooks.org/article/maki...
Making Art Under Fascism | Los Angeles Review of Books
Kai Maristed reviews the new translation of Austro-German author Daniel Kehlmann’s 2023 novel “The Director,” translated by Ross Benjamin.
lareviewofbooks.org
May 9, 2025 at 11:46 AM
My new review of a long-admired writer, for LARB--
Here a letter I received as a member of Democrats Abroad. The scope of the SAVE Act is horrifying. Anyone can and should write in, from home or abroad, asap.
March 28, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Here a letter I received as a member of Democrats Abroad. The scope of the SAVE Act is horrifying. Anyone can and should write in, from home or abroad, asap.
If not for the source, nhpr.org, I'd have thought this story a plant. Too outlandish. Anyone else hear the cadence of goose-stepping boots?
March 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
If not for the source, nhpr.org, I'd have thought this story a plant. Too outlandish. Anyone else hear the cadence of goose-stepping boots?
Reposted by Kai Maristed
like, they must think their voters are rubes who don’t understand what is happening
March 14, 2025 at 9:50 PM
like, they must think their voters are rubes who don’t understand what is happening
With thanks to Robert Reich, handy numbers to share liberally: White House: 1-202-456-1414 (switchboard). 1-202-456-1111 (comments). 'Jam it.'
Senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The operator will connect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.
Senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The operator will connect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.
March 9, 2025 at 11:36 PM
With thanks to Robert Reich, handy numbers to share liberally: White House: 1-202-456-1414 (switchboard). 1-202-456-1111 (comments). 'Jam it.'
Senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The operator will connect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.
Senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The operator will connect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.
My 2 cents on Rattner's Opinion piece: www.nytimes.com/shared/comme...
Read a Times Reader's Comment on: Donald Trump Is Backed by the Business Elite
Behind closed doors, many top executives voice support for the new administration.
www.nytimes.com
March 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM
My 2 cents on Rattner's Opinion piece: www.nytimes.com/shared/comme...
IMPORTANT EVENT, please pass it on:
standupforscience2025.org
standupforscience2025.org
STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
March 7, 2025. Washington DC and nationwide. Because science is for everyone.
standupforscience2025.org
March 3, 2025 at 5:36 PM
IMPORTANT EVENT, please pass it on:
standupforscience2025.org
standupforscience2025.org
Great resource. Thanks for the research.
March 1, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Great resource. Thanks for the research.
Today President Macron in a press conference said that if Putin is not stopped he will take Romania and Moldavia next.
March 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Today President Macron in a press conference said that if Putin is not stopped he will take Romania and Moldavia next.
I deplore Schadenfreude. Normally. But this makes me want to do CARTWHEELS!!!
February 26, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I deplore Schadenfreude. Normally. But this makes me want to do CARTWHEELS!!!
Right now, quick dives into past writers are as necessary to me as a plunge into ice-water when the sauna gets too hot. My current voice of choice: the eternally contemporary Heinrich Heine. How he would lampoon this American Schlamassel, sparing no one!
February 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Right now, quick dives into past writers are as necessary to me as a plunge into ice-water when the sauna gets too hot. My current voice of choice: the eternally contemporary Heinrich Heine. How he would lampoon this American Schlamassel, sparing no one!
Reposted by Kai Maristed
this is what we want to see. tariff the shit out of elon’s companies www.businesstoday.in/world/canada...
‘Make them pay’: Canada puts Trump’s ‘first friend’ Elon Musk’s Tesla in the crosshairs of tariff war
Canada’s EV adoption rate is outpacing that of the U.S., with nearly 17% of new cars sold in the third quarter of 2024 being fully electric, compared to just 8% in the US.
www.businesstoday.in
February 1, 2025 at 11:05 PM
this is what we want to see. tariff the shit out of elon’s companies www.businesstoday.in/world/canada...
Reposted by Kai Maristed
NBCC member @kaimaristed.bsky.social reviewed "Command Performance," written by Jean Echenoz and translated by Mark Polizzotti, for World Literature Today:
Command Performance by Jean Echenoz
Trans. Mark Polizzotti. NRYB Classics. 2025. 162 pages.
buff.ly
January 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
NBCC member @kaimaristed.bsky.social reviewed "Command Performance," written by Jean Echenoz and translated by Mark Polizzotti, for World Literature Today:
"[Trump] also reiterated claims about the need to engage in the herculean task of raking dry leaves out of forests — claims irrelevant to fires that have destroyed packed residential areas." WaPo. Call up the immigrants, Donald! Nowadays I take my laughs (read, coffee snorts) where I can get'em.
January 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
"[Trump] also reiterated claims about the need to engage in the herculean task of raking dry leaves out of forests — claims irrelevant to fires that have destroyed packed residential areas." WaPo. Call up the immigrants, Donald! Nowadays I take my laughs (read, coffee snorts) where I can get'em.
Will I be torched for saying the truth sometimes lies in the middle? Today's civil war re HB-1 visas: numeracy and literacy take years. We should triple public school investment, pay for more qualified teachers, ban phones in schools etc-- AND make big tech fund short courses for specific skills.
December 29, 2024 at 12:57 AM
Will I be torched for saying the truth sometimes lies in the middle? Today's civil war re HB-1 visas: numeracy and literacy take years. We should triple public school investment, pay for more qualified teachers, ban phones in schools etc-- AND make big tech fund short courses for specific skills.
The Big Five Publishers Have Killed Literary Fiction
www.persuasion.community/p/the-big-fi...
www.persuasion.community/p/the-big-fi...
The Big Five Publishers Have Killed Literary Fiction
Serious readers must expand their tastes to the small presses.
www.persuasion.community
December 26, 2024 at 12:08 AM
The Big Five Publishers Have Killed Literary Fiction
www.persuasion.community/p/the-big-fi...
www.persuasion.community/p/the-big-fi...
Jamie Raskin is among the hardest working of the new generation of leaders. Not a Headline Grabber. Educating and motivating the next generation of voters for many years now.
Democrats just rescued America from a disastrous government shutdown—blocking an outrageous MAGA effort to eliminate the debt ceiling and pass massive new tax cuts for the wealthy.
We stood strong—and we stand strong—for the American people.
We stood strong—and we stand strong—for the American people.
December 21, 2024 at 10:35 PM
Jamie Raskin is among the hardest working of the new generation of leaders. Not a Headline Grabber. Educating and motivating the next generation of voters for many years now.
Reposted by Kai Maristed
Where's the party? My latest (a review essay) for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/poli...
What Happened to the Democratic Party?
The squalid state of our present political institutions points to a failure of not just individuals but the system as a whole.
www.thenation.com
December 16, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Where's the party? My latest (a review essay) for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Happy Holidays to you many thousands of govt workers frorced to work without a paycheck for the indefinite future! The Lord will provide!
December 20, 2024 at 5:49 PM
Happy Holidays to you many thousands of govt workers frorced to work without a paycheck for the indefinite future! The Lord will provide!
Watch: not this year's fictionalized movie but the real Bonhoeffer documentary (on Netflix.) The amazingly researched footage of the docu is a breathtaking study in Everyman courage so needed today.
December 20, 2024 at 4:21 PM
Watch: not this year's fictionalized movie but the real Bonhoeffer documentary (on Netflix.) The amazingly researched footage of the docu is a breathtaking study in Everyman courage so needed today.
In Paris recently I binged on crackling new fiction from 'la rentree', six books, (real books, Kindle doesn't light my fire) - idea was also to write up a mega-review, compare & contrast - but it may be spring before I get to the last 'fin.'
December 17, 2024 at 12:16 AM
In Paris recently I binged on crackling new fiction from 'la rentree', six books, (real books, Kindle doesn't light my fire) - idea was also to write up a mega-review, compare & contrast - but it may be spring before I get to the last 'fin.'
Plastic. Choking, poisoning the planet. The profit savior promised by Big Oil to stockholders sweating green energy. Today I lost it at Whole Foods over a tiny pkg of chicken thighs 2x more bubble container than meat. No alternative. The manager shrugged in sympathy. 'New product for GenZ!'
December 15, 2024 at 12:05 AM
Plastic. Choking, poisoning the planet. The profit savior promised by Big Oil to stockholders sweating green energy. Today I lost it at Whole Foods over a tiny pkg of chicken thighs 2x more bubble container than meat. No alternative. The manager shrugged in sympathy. 'New product for GenZ!'
Still up for that DR beach getaway?
"Cage-like trucks fitted with iron bars... line up every morning at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
... not loaded with cattle, but with Haitians being deported. They include young men, pregnant women, unaccompanied children..." NYT Dec 9
"Cage-like trucks fitted with iron bars... line up every morning at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
... not loaded with cattle, but with Haitians being deported. They include young men, pregnant women, unaccompanied children..." NYT Dec 9
December 10, 2024 at 11:40 PM
Still up for that DR beach getaway?
"Cage-like trucks fitted with iron bars... line up every morning at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
... not loaded with cattle, but with Haitians being deported. They include young men, pregnant women, unaccompanied children..." NYT Dec 9
"Cage-like trucks fitted with iron bars... line up every morning at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
... not loaded with cattle, but with Haitians being deported. They include young men, pregnant women, unaccompanied children..." NYT Dec 9