Sam Cohen
@samcohen.bsky.social
Teaching, writing about books, music. Views mine, all mine, nobody else's, least of all my employer's. https://samuelscohen.com/
Listened to the 1954 Harold Brodkey story "State of Grace" while on my walk yesterday and holy cow
November 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Listened to the 1954 Harold Brodkey story "State of Grace" while on my walk yesterday and holy cow
Ended banned books class this morning by saying that neat endings to works of literature can imply that the world makes sense and Maus ends the way it does because it's implying that the world is a terrifying, horrifying place that doesn't make sense and then I sent them off into the world and oy
November 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Ended banned books class this morning by saying that neat endings to works of literature can imply that the world makes sense and Maus ends the way it does because it's implying that the world is a terrifying, horrifying place that doesn't make sense and then I sent them off into the world and oy
Avoided the news this morning with this fun B noir with a publishing angle
November 9, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Avoided the news this morning with this fun B noir with a publishing angle
Written in that room when it was just Room 315
November 9, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Written in that room when it was just Room 315
180 reading responses down, 0 to go
November 6, 2025 at 8:17 PM
180 reading responses down, 0 to go
I mean FFS is this a prank
November 6, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I mean FFS is this a prank
Super fun watching the future of the disciplines die on the vine while ed tech grifters get millions thrown at them (I speak for myself and not my employer or any other institution though maybe also for the future of our ability as a society to think in a sustained way about anything at all 🤷♂️)
November 6, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Super fun watching the future of the disciplines die on the vine while ed tech grifters get millions thrown at them (I speak for myself and not my employer or any other institution though maybe also for the future of our ability as a society to think in a sustained way about anything at all 🤷♂️)
Secret police kidnapping people, a palace covered in gold, everything's fine
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Secret police kidnapping people, a palace covered in gold, everything's fine
Testifying for the defense
November 5, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Testifying for the defense
I'm teaching Maus to ninety college students right now and we're just focusing on the Holocaust but I hope they're also having some other thoughts
November 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I'm teaching Maus to ninety college students right now and we're just focusing on the Holocaust but I hope they're also having some other thoughts
Thinking also today of the Upton Sinclair who ran for governor of California in 1934 and appeared as a character in Chris Bachelder's amazing novel U.S.!
November 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Thinking also today of the Upton Sinclair who ran for governor of California in 1934 and appeared as a character in Chris Bachelder's amazing novel U.S.!
Might be time for a new copy
November 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Might be time for a new copy
I'm teaching Maus to ninety college students right now and we're just focusing on the Holocaust but I hope they're also having some other thoughts
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I'm teaching Maus to ninety college students right now and we're just focusing on the Holocaust but I hope they're also having some other thoughts
On Didion's The Last Thing He Wanted and the (now departed) former VP
November 4, 2025 at 6:08 PM
On Didion's The Last Thing He Wanted and the (now departed) former VP
Takes you back, doesn't it
November 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Takes you back, doesn't it
Adam Palley special is genius
November 2, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Adam Palley special is genius
To be clear (about the Warby Parkers), this is why--this guy has a whole host of bad takes
October 31, 2025 at 7:05 PM
To be clear (about the Warby Parkers), this is why--this guy has a whole host of bad takes