Bob Levin
Writer of fiction and non-fiction

Bob Levin's Blog

RSS

May.07.2013

CBLDF

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has added to its web site's History of Comic Censorship a slightly revised version of the highly condensed treatment of my book "The Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against the Counterculture," which ran a few years ago in the Libertarian magazine "Reason...

Apr.21.2013

Heart Study

U.C. Medical Center has launched a study of heart disease which is intended to extend beyond what the Framingham study uncovered decades ago. You can read about it here: http://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/UCSF-begins-huge-Health-eHeart... You can sign-up to participate at https://www....

Apr.14.2013

86,397 is Not Enough

My latest piece is up at THE BROAD STREET REVIEW. You can read it at: http://www.broadstreetreview.com/index.php/main/article/heart_attack_part_9_one_last_implant/ It begins “We have to talk,” my cardiologist said. Adele and I looked at each other. ...

Apr.13.2013

More Ware

The other day I mentioned my take on "Building Stories" had appeared at the Comics Journal's site. One hundred fifty-six of you read that and either did or did not take action. Now I see the Journal's co-editor has publicized this and its phrasing tickled my fancy so I am reprinting it...

Apr.10.2013

Ware and 'When' (and What About It)

My take on Chris Ware's "Building Stories" is up at www.tcj.com. (As I write, it's on the first page, but it may have moved by the time you get there.) It begins: All across Berkeley, citizens of my demographic had been startled by their latest “New York Review of Books.”...

Apr.09.2013

Blues

A while ago, I blogged about Jazz on the Tube. Now its added a sister site, Blues on the Tube. Again, you receive daily videos (or recordings) for free. It's pot luck and fun. To sign up, go here: http://www.reallytheblues.com/page/22340.html

Mar.24.2013

Making Them Like They Used To

Boy, they used to set the bar for screenplays low. Take “The Unholy Three” (1925), a Tod Browning-directed silent film. The premise – three ex-circus performers form a jewel-robbery ring – is fine. The cast is solid. Victor McLaglen, who will...

Mar.16.2013

On 'Albert and Robert'

Magazine articles don't usually get much coverage, but here's what the blogger Chris Estey had to say about one of mine. Naturally, I'm pleased as punch. Officially out this week is The Comics Journal 302, about the thickness-size of a big city phonebook, but completely made up of very high...

Mar.11.2013

Black Eye 2

The second issue of this fine anthology of black humor (verbal and pictorial) will contain a chapter from my long suppressed -- well, roundly disparaged anyway -- novel THE SCHIZ. Other contributors on the prose side include Paul Krassner, of THE REALIST fame, and Michael O'Donoghue, who made...

Feb.26.2013

Putting on the Gloves

My latest piece has gone up at "The Broad Street Review." It comes with an eye-catching, full-color photograph, and trims of material where the editor found his interest wandering. You can find it at http://www.broadstreetreview.com/index.php/main/article/...

Feb.11.2013

Let Us Now Praise Al Feldstein

My latest piece is up at THE COMICS JOURNAL's web site. You can read it here: http://www.tcj.com/let-us-now-praise-al-feldstein/ It begins like this: In my prime EC Fan-Addict years, 1952-to-1954, during which I was ten, eleven and twelve, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction...

Feb.08.2013

Maurice Sendak and Friends

The latest issue of "The Comics Journal" (#302), now a not-quite annual, weighs in at 3.5 pounds, runs 670 pages, and costs $30. For your money, you get interviews with Maurice Sendak and Jacques Tardi, plus ME (with 60 pages on Albert Morse, Robert Crumb, and the true story of "Keep On...

Feb.03.2013

Berkeley Plaques ii

The "Virtual Berkeley" site has honored another 20-or-s0 former residents, including Philip K. Dick, Timothy Leary, Edward Teller, Thornton Wilder, and the area's first vegetarians. My contribution was Beserkley Records. You can read all about them and more at OOPS! THE EDITOR HAS...

Jan.12.2013

Pynchon & Dylan: A Couple of Sites

This Thomas Pynchon-site has linked to and featured my blog of 1/1/13. If you have an interest in Pynchon and don't know if it, check it out. http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page#Featured_Article I am flattered to be included -- but reading what is already...

Jan.02.2013

The Escapist

Here's a plug for The Escapist book store on Claremont Ave. in south Berkeley: http://www.escapistcomics.com/ It's fully stocked with a helpful staff. It also has TWO of my books on its shelves. This may not be as big a tribute as I think since it acquired Comic Relief's inventory when...

Lurid and fascinating... loathsome (and)... compelling. ”

—UTNE Reader

About Bob

Bob Levin was born in Philadelphia March 14, 1942. Since 1968, he has lived in Berkeley with his wife Adele, a writer and retired psychotherapist. A retired attorney, he represented the injured in workers' compensation cases for more than 40 years. Levin is...

Read full bio »