Ben O'Connell
@benjaminoc.bsky.social
Dad, husband, promiscuous reader, former music geek, wannabe movie nerd, Montanan, NE DC Canine Knucklehead Ward co-founder, C-SPAN director of editorial operations
Beautiful sunset in Fredericksburg, Virginia, tonight
November 15, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Beautiful sunset in Fredericksburg, Virginia, tonight
Michael Malone intended HANDLING SIN to be a Southern DON QUIXOTE, but Cervantes’s novel was so much more than a madcap picaresque. There’s a brilliant 250-page comic novel in here, but it’s a slog at 620 pages.
November 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Michael Malone intended HANDLING SIN to be a Southern DON QUIXOTE, but Cervantes’s novel was so much more than a madcap picaresque. There’s a brilliant 250-page comic novel in here, but it’s a slog at 620 pages.
I hear good things…
November 14, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I hear good things…
Deborah Cohen’s LAST CALL AT THE IMPERIAL HOTEL is an outstanding group biography of the foreign correspondents who explained the interwar world to increasingly isolationist Americans, laid groundwork for U.S. intervention in WWII, recorded the advent of the Cold War, and screwed each other silly.
November 12, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Deborah Cohen’s LAST CALL AT THE IMPERIAL HOTEL is an outstanding group biography of the foreign correspondents who explained the interwar world to increasingly isolationist Americans, laid groundwork for U.S. intervention in WWII, recorded the advent of the Cold War, and screwed each other silly.
I enjoyed del Toro’s Frankenstein, but, dear lord, the CGI was distracting.
November 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
I enjoyed del Toro’s Frankenstein, but, dear lord, the CGI was distracting.
Cal Ripken showed us a ton of memorabilia—bats, balls, and uniforms from significant games and gloves from some of his biggest seasons.
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Cal Ripken showed us a ton of memorabilia—bats, balls, and uniforms from significant games and gloves from some of his biggest seasons.
My office for the afternoon
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
My office for the afternoon
Gang of Four—and, maybe, Mekons—fans will get the most out of TO HELL WITH POVERTY!, but Jon King’s razor-wire wit is occasionally awe-inspiring. The chapter in which King recalls Gang of Four’s first booking on Top of the Pops, in particular, is a virtuoso performance of clear-eyed absurdity.
November 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Gang of Four—and, maybe, Mekons—fans will get the most out of TO HELL WITH POVERTY!, but Jon King’s razor-wire wit is occasionally awe-inspiring. The chapter in which King recalls Gang of Four’s first booking on Top of the Pops, in particular, is a virtuoso performance of clear-eyed absurdity.
We also saw the Oliveira Lima Library, the largest collection of Brasiliana outside of Brazil. It also has an impressive collection of general South American items, including a turtle shell hair comb owned by Simone de Bolivar’s mother, a signed portrait of the Liberator, and a bloodied spear.
October 30, 2025 at 9:10 PM
We also saw the Oliveira Lima Library, the largest collection of Brasiliana outside of Brazil. It also has an impressive collection of general South American items, including a turtle shell hair comb owned by Simone de Bolivar’s mother, a signed portrait of the Liberator, and a bloodied spear.
And then there was the book the size of a finger tip that has perfectly legible script if you zoom in far enough…
October 30, 2025 at 9:04 PM
And then there was the book the size of a finger tip that has perfectly legible script if you zoom in far enough…
We also saw two books with “four-edge” paintings. The outer edges look typically gilded until you bend them just so.
October 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
We also saw two books with “four-edge” paintings. The outer edges look typically gilded until you bend them just so.
Catholic University librarians showed some colleagues and I amazing artifacts from their collections today. Their rare book holdings include a 1911 book of Oxford University statutes signed by its original owner, J.R.R. Tolkien, and two U.S. first printings of FRANKENSTEIN.
October 30, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Catholic University librarians showed some colleagues and I amazing artifacts from their collections today. Their rare book holdings include a 1911 book of Oxford University statutes signed by its original owner, J.R.R. Tolkien, and two U.S. first printings of FRANKENSTEIN.
An unknown force from a dark star leads to madness among the crew of IKARIE XB 1 as they search for life in the Alpha Centauri system. The 1963 movie scans more like an extended episode of a Czech STAR TREK than a predecessor to SUNSHINE, EVENT HORIZON, THE BLACK HOLE, or, even, SOLARIS. It’s fine.
October 29, 2025 at 1:01 AM
An unknown force from a dark star leads to madness among the crew of IKARIE XB 1 as they search for life in the Alpha Centauri system. The 1963 movie scans more like an extended episode of a Czech STAR TREK than a predecessor to SUNSHINE, EVENT HORIZON, THE BLACK HOLE, or, even, SOLARIS. It’s fine.
THE HEART IN WINTER by Kevin Barry is funny, sad, crass, and lovely. And Barry’s prose has enough energy to power a small city. Highly recommended.
October 27, 2025 at 2:14 AM
THE HEART IN WINTER by Kevin Barry is funny, sad, crass, and lovely. And Barry’s prose has enough energy to power a small city. Highly recommended.
U.S. Marines have unsettling experiences after exploring the site of an Afghan-Soviet War–era massacre. John Milas’s THE MILITIA HOUSE is an excellent haunted house story and a vivid portrait of living with PTSD, but it’s Milas’s depiction of everyday life on the frontlines that held me in thrall.
October 26, 2025 at 11:55 PM
U.S. Marines have unsettling experiences after exploring the site of an Afghan-Soviet War–era massacre. John Milas’s THE MILITIA HOUSE is an excellent haunted house story and a vivid portrait of living with PTSD, but it’s Milas’s depiction of everyday life on the frontlines that held me in thrall.
Had a chance to hit my local
October 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Had a chance to hit my local
The stretch from the windmill through the retrieval of the Necronomicon is brilliant—among the best 20 minutes of comedy made in the 1990s. The rest is pretty fun, too.
October 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM
The stretch from the windmill through the retrieval of the Necronomicon is brilliant—among the best 20 minutes of comedy made in the 1990s. The rest is pretty fun, too.
Checking in on an old friend as I wait to pick up Elder Kid from a concert
October 25, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Checking in on an old friend as I wait to pick up Elder Kid from a concert
I will let Bill Murray get away with anything, apparently
October 25, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I will let Bill Murray get away with anything, apparently
When you are too lazy to climb into a dog bed
October 23, 2025 at 1:09 AM
When you are too lazy to climb into a dog bed
You’ll also find a supplementary “treasures” program in which LOC librarians showed John Grisham a variety of documents related to criminal justice, baseball, literature, and his own career. Grisham lit up at Justice Harry Blackmun’s handwritten reading log, which included 5 of Grisham’s own books.
October 20, 2025 at 10:50 PM
You’ll also find a supplementary “treasures” program in which LOC librarians showed John Grisham a variety of documents related to criminal justice, baseball, literature, and his own career. Grisham lit up at Justice Harry Blackmun’s handwritten reading log, which included 5 of Grisham’s own books.
C-SPAN debuted our latest series, America’s Book Club, last night. We shot the hour-long conversation between John Grisham and the host, David Rubenstein, in the Library of Congress’s spectacular Great Hall. You can find the full video here: www.c-span.org/americas-boo...
October 20, 2025 at 10:43 PM
C-SPAN debuted our latest series, America’s Book Club, last night. We shot the hour-long conversation between John Grisham and the host, David Rubenstein, in the Library of Congress’s spectacular Great Hall. You can find the full video here: www.c-span.org/americas-boo...