Ric Royer | Ric Royer

My Review of the First 40 Pages of My Struggle

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021 - by Ric Royer

I’ve always been curious about this book, My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård. I was working in bookstores when the first book of this 2,700 page memoir of someone …

Be sure to tell her I said hello.

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 - by Ric Royer

I overheard a guy in a diner tell his friend that his wife was having difficulties: “…her joints flare up, she moans in her sleep, psoriasis, you know. She can …

Ric Royer review of Jeff Schneider’s “Therapists Gone Wild”

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 - by Ric Royer

[originally published on Vol. 1 Brooklyn, http://vol1brooklyn.com/2021/08/09/best-of-all-possible-worsts-a-review-of-jeff-schneiders-therapists-gone-wild/] There is nothing particularly wild about Jonathan Epstein, the main character in Jeff Schneider’s new book, Therapists Gone Wild. He’s hardly protagonist material: a sheepish, soft-spined …

My Hot Take on Simone Biles, Vaccines & Viking Dick

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 - by Ric Royer

How to read poetry

June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 - by Ric Royer

How to read poetry: Buy a book of poetry from a poet everyone is talking about. Skim through the book if you want, or put it straight on your bookshelf …

The Horror is that There is No Horror

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 - by Ric Royer

On the surprising conservatism of “progressive horror” [Originally published in Arc Digital, Feb 25, 2021. ] “Climate of the Hunter is an Atmospheric Slow-Burn that Skewers Patriarchal Hierarchies & Misogyny,” declares …

FEARLESS AND LOVING NEAR LAS VEGAS: A REVIEW OF LISA CARVER’S “THE PAHRUMP REPORT”

March 10, 2021March 30, 2021 - by Ric Royer

[First published at http://vol1brooklyn.com/2021/02/26/fearless-and-loving-near-las-vegas-a-review-of-lisa-carvers-the-pahrump-report/] There is a moment in her new book The Pahrump Report, when Lisa Carver responds to a question about her occupation by answering: “I am a writer.” …

Pandemic, Berkshires Style; From disdain for regulations, to passion for bureaucracy, notes on day tripping during the coronavirus.

March 9, 2021March 30, 2021 - by Ric Royer

I can’t say that the Berkshires is the first place that would normally come to my mind when I think of a nice little getaway, but what I can say …

If You Haven’t Lost Your Mind Yet, You Have Lost Your Mind

February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 - by Ric Royer

If you’ve spent enough time on social media, you’ve probably experienced it: someone you know begins to exhibit signs of mental instability for everyone to witness in the spotlight of …

The New Moral Majority, Same As The Old Moral Majority; On the allure of censorship

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 - by Ric Royer

[Originally published by Arc Digital: https://arcdigital.media/the-new-moral-majority-same-as-the-old-moral-majority-13f7402e1287] Like many right-wing American anti-obscenity activists, Terry Rakolta was a very concerned and busy citizen in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The self-described housewife and …