The Shaggy Dog Story: Subverting the Punchline

The Shaggy Dog Story: Subverting the Punchline

A “shaggy dog story” is any narrative that features a lot of build-up and action, only to end in an anticlimax, usually making the story ironic or meaningless. Shaggy dog stories take advantage of your expectations. Normally, a narrative with so much...
16 Cyberpunk Books for Technology Fans

16 Cyberpunk Books for Technology Fans

Cyberpunk is a genre that blends high technology (the cyber) with a deteriorating society (the punk). It features a gritty landscape where technological and scientific achievements are a dime-a-dozen, yet the quality of life seems to continue degrading. It’s no...
Destroying the Myth of the Starving Artist

Destroying the Myth of the Starving Artist

It’s a popular stereotype: disheveled-looking people who don’t care about their sloppy appearances or tiny apartments stacked full of clutter and unfinished works. All that matters is their art, and soon they’ll catch their big break. We see this...