by Mark O'Brien | Jun 24, 2015
I’ve added to my fledgling collection of books for children by authoring another one, entitled The One and Only Ben. It’s being illustrated by a multi-talented young woman, Shelley Shaw. The image above is the first illustration Shelley created for the book. In brief,...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 18, 2015
White is the new black. I don’t know yet if black is (or can be) the new white. (All things considered, why would black people want to be white anyway?) But I do know that seriousness — like empiricism — is a dying art. I wonder: Are we grateful that we have the...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 17, 2015
For those who don’t know his work, Frederick Exley’s passing 23 years ago today will be as the great preponderance of the world’s myriad events — unknown, unseen, unremarked. For those of us who know and love his work, his passing marked the loss of...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 16, 2015
I don’t know Jim Durbin. But I like him already. Anyone who would write this clearly, directly, and truthfully is a man after my own heart: Cut the crap. Learn to be honest and write honestly. Talk about steady work, opportunity for advancement, well-run...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 11, 2015
The other day I saw a photograph of a Chief Sales & Marketing Officer manning a booth at a trade show. At first, it didn’t make much of an impression, one way or the other. But the more I thought about it, the more curious it made me. Presuming the dude in...