Letters at 3AM

'My love is an imperfect thing but it sings.' Those are the words to be carved on the tombstone of Michael Ventura's brother Aldo, an unstable soul who died last week.

"..."Christ dwells in cancer cells." My brother Aldo wrote that many years ago. He died last week, of cancer..."

Dec. 10, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

In their behavior and beliefs, Ralph Nader and George W. Bush are twins separated at birth: Nader's candidacy is an act of perfidy

"...handed the presidency to George W. Bush, Ralph Nader attempted to placate Democrats and the left with a position..."

Oct. 1, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

All the economic numbers point one way: Hard times are about to get harder

"...Dick Cheney ranted that a vote for John Kerry means "we'll get hit..."

Sept. 17, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

'The 9 / 11 Commission Report' only shows us how much we still do not know about what happened on that day

"...11 (pp. 35-46) focus on President Bush and his administration's behavior on 9/11. Eleven happens also to be the..."

Sept. 3, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

War is how civilizations make love, so we should be careful of the partners we choose

"...War is how civilizations make love. To say war is how civilizations "have..."

April 30, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Americans and Iraqis are dying for Bush's pride and his hopes of re-election

"...of last year, a U.S. colonel announced from the battlefront: "We own Baghdad." A year later to the day,..."

April 16, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

In the world of Charlie Chaplin chaos reigns … and is celebrated: The Little Tramp turns 90

"...and reveled in Sennett's only theme: chaos. One event that sort of makes sense leads to another that makes..."

Feb. 20, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Although it may sound like hooey in the retelling, this is the story of the author's discovery of his soul's expression.

"...Lamb, Voltaire, and Emerson, it was seen as a contemplation: The writer essayed (attempted) the consideration of a subject...."

Jan. 9, 2004 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Memories of the first stirring of Self and Soul.

"...York City, 1950. I was 5 years old. I watched a group of boys my age kick another 5-year-old..."

Dec. 12, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

"Mediocrity is never passive; it avenges itself for its deprivation." -- Nelson Algren

"...on the Wild Side. (Yes, it's Algren's phrase; years later, Lou Reed copped it.) In a 1965 memoir, Notes..."

Oct. 31, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Forgive Elia Kazan his sins, but never forget his lousy deeds.

"...Elia Kazan [stage and film director]: "That's correct."..."

Oct. 17, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Having children used to be necessary for a family's economic survival; in the last century it has instead become a choice.

"...-- recipes on how to raise 'em, feed 'em, educate 'em. But one most basic question goes unasked and..."

Oct. 3, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

We have replaced our concept of the heroic with the superheroic, and the sense of the possible with the impossible.

"...happened to the idea of being human. The most blatant examples are, as usual, on the screen: Spider-Man, The..."

July 25, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Stanley Crawford's new book, The River in Winter: New and Selected Essays, reminds us that we must all do our part.

"...What is sanity? The Oxford definition has gotta be tongue-in-cheek:..."

June 27, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

We call them "retirees," although in other cultures and eras they would be elders, but if they had anything real to do they wouldn't be coming here to Jean, Nevada.

"...Two gaudy, cheap-looking, neon-lit structures constitute most of what there is of Jean, Nevada, one on each side..."

May 2, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

In 2002, cinema has been the healthiest of our arts. The movies' range and variety relieve what has otherwise been a bleak time for our culture and our Constitution.

"...ricocheted off the polished surfaces of a film false at its core. Director Todd Haynes apparently thinks that upwardly..."

Jan. 3, 2003 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

"...The Pacific Coast Highway: What Randolph Bourne wrote in 1917 could have been written..."

Oct. 18, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

The White House is intent on totalitarian measures and war; it employs incoherence because it cannot speak plainly of its machinations.

"...In July a New York Times/CBS poll revealed that 45% of Americans thought "other people are really running..."

Sept. 20, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

"..."Bedtime" is not a Mediterranean concept. My family and relatives still lived in as much a Sicilian, Mediterranean rhythm..."

Aug. 23, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Four meditations on three undefinable words: I love you.

"...FIRST MEDITATION: A language is not its words. A language is..."

July 12, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

The gargoyles guarding the great cathedrals are a part of religion, a part of humanity, even a part of God. You come to be redeemed, but it's possible you'll be devoured.

"...In my teens my Catholicism ripped in two. Emotionally, I very much wanted to..."

May 3, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

In setting up a "shadow" government, the Bush administration has flouted its obligation to obey and enforce the Constitution. September 11 may be the best thing to happen to Bush totalitarians.

"...Senator Robert C. Byrd, 84-year-old conservative Democrat of West Virginia,..."

March 22, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Michael Ventura observes the great John Cassavetes at work on the set of his next-to-last movie Love Streams.

"...darkness of John Cassavetes' living room beside the camera that filmed his last scene as an actor -- isn't..."

March 8, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

War movies are back ... but they don't make them like they used to.

"...Cinema has achieved an explicitness of expression and technique that allows combat to be shown more realistically than ever..."

Feb. 22, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

To be an artist is to live a life of service to one's gift.

"...suddenly anonymous in the deep drifts. I would stand at the window, look up, try to fix my gaze..."

Feb. 8, 2002 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Our president and attorney general have turned the protection of our civil liberties into the new national crisis.

"...In a national crisis you and I don't meet as writer and..."

Nov. 30, 2001 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Sometime in the wee hours of September 12, George W. Bush realized that he is the President of United States and rose from his previous ineffectuality to meet the occasion.

"..."There is no greater American value than owning something."..."

Nov. 2, 2001 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offered a metaphor for the modern age, one in which the monster is the unacknowledged dark side of the inventor or creator.

"...in one bookstore, the handsomest a Modern Library hardcover featuring a portrait of the author as haunting as the..."

Oct. 19, 2001 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

Technological progress is altering fundamental issues of identity.

"...on my writing desk since high school -- reports that Prometheus, in Greek, means "forethought," and that he was..."

Aug. 17, 2001 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM

The Holocauust reminds us that in order to save ouselves we must know ourselves

"...do the research, examine, compare, consider, in the arrogance that it is we who are keeping history alive; but..."

July 20, 2001 Column by Michael Ventura

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