mark leidner
@markleidner.bsky.social
writer of books, sometimes movies http://linktr.ee/markleidner
https://markleidner.substack.com/p/50-questions-to-ask-about-your-story
https://markleidner.substack.com/p/50-questions-to-ask-about-your-story
after the odyssey, christopher nolan needs to team up with vince gilligan to make a movie about pluribus and memento happening to the same person at the same time
January 5, 2026 at 6:28 PM
after the odyssey, christopher nolan needs to team up with vince gilligan to make a movie about pluribus and memento happening to the same person at the same time
bro last night was like if pluribus happened to gerard butler in greenland 2
January 2, 2026 at 11:10 PM
bro last night was like if pluribus happened to gerard butler in greenland 2
bro last night was like if pluribus happened to gollum in middle earth
January 1, 2026 at 11:29 PM
bro last night was like if pluribus happened to gollum in middle earth
according to WME, tarantino’s hateful comments did an estimated $70 million worth of damages to paul dano’s reputation, but on gofundme, the paul dano reputational recovery fund is now approaching $110m, exceeding its target of $70m by close to $40m as of dawn this morning
December 31, 2025 at 5:39 AM
according to WME, tarantino’s hateful comments did an estimated $70 million worth of damages to paul dano’s reputation, but on gofundme, the paul dano reputational recovery fund is now approaching $110m, exceeding its target of $70m by close to $40m as of dawn this morning
what society really needs
isn’t marty supreme
but a film in the style of marty supreme
set during biblical times
about a brash, young, iconoclastic shepherd
no one really likes
who sacrifices everything—his health, his relationships—
to be present at the nativity
isn’t marty supreme
but a film in the style of marty supreme
set during biblical times
about a brash, young, iconoclastic shepherd
no one really likes
who sacrifices everything—his health, his relationships—
to be present at the nativity
December 30, 2025 at 12:46 AM
what society really needs
isn’t marty supreme
but a film in the style of marty supreme
set during biblical times
about a brash, young, iconoclastic shepherd
no one really likes
who sacrifices everything—his health, his relationships—
to be present at the nativity
isn’t marty supreme
but a film in the style of marty supreme
set during biblical times
about a brash, young, iconoclastic shepherd
no one really likes
who sacrifices everything—his health, his relationships—
to be present at the nativity
my dentist told me he dreamt tarantino
made a hagiographic prestige documentary
about paul dano as a form of penance
made a hagiographic prestige documentary
about paul dano as a form of penance
December 29, 2025 at 3:22 AM
my dentist told me he dreamt tarantino
made a hagiographic prestige documentary
about paul dano as a form of penance
made a hagiographic prestige documentary
about paul dano as a form of penance
Reposted by mark leidner
Faculty Hilary Plum's latest novel, "State Champ," out from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social, was named in the @parisreview.bsky.social's "Our Favorite Books of 2025" list (selected by @markleidner.bsky.social) 🏆🏃♀️🩸
Full list: www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
Full list: www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
December 17, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Faculty Hilary Plum's latest novel, "State Champ," out from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social, was named in the @parisreview.bsky.social's "Our Favorite Books of 2025" list (selected by @markleidner.bsky.social) 🏆🏃♀️🩸
Full list: www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
Full list: www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
Reposted by mark leidner
@parisreview.bsky.social includes STATE CHAMP in its list of "Our Favorite Books of 2025!" "Hilary Plum's novel has a pulpy, political premise that is complemented by an arresting structure and complex characterization." -- @markleidner.bsky.social www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
Our Favorite Books of 2025 by The Paris Review
December 12, 2025 – This year, we asked our contributors, our readers, our current and former interns, and other friends of the Review for their favorite books of the past year. Here’s what they said.
www.theparisreview.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
@parisreview.bsky.social includes STATE CHAMP in its list of "Our Favorite Books of 2025!" "Hilary Plum's novel has a pulpy, political premise that is complemented by an arresting structure and complex characterization." -- @markleidner.bsky.social www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/12...
dreamt the last level of jedi training was firing up your lightsaber in the shower and having to block every single droplet of water
December 8, 2025 at 6:40 PM
dreamt the last level of jedi training was firing up your lightsaber in the shower and having to block every single droplet of water
It’s fucked up that in the Book of Job, the main character is made to suffer endlessly through no fault of his own, and his name is spelled the same as the thing you have to do for money 2,000 years later.
December 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
It’s fucked up that in the Book of Job, the main character is made to suffer endlessly through no fault of his own, and his name is spelled the same as the thing you have to do for money 2,000 years later.
We need a massive New Deal-esque spending program to redirect all the rivers within the United States to flow along contiguous state borders—so that a map of the United States would look like a jigsaw puzzle of states, with rivers being the seams between the pieces.
December 7, 2025 at 2:39 AM
We need a massive New Deal-esque spending program to redirect all the rivers within the United States to flow along contiguous state borders—so that a map of the United States would look like a jigsaw puzzle of states, with rivers being the seams between the pieces.
Reposted by mark leidner
(to the tune of eleanor rigby) eleanor rigby
December 5, 2025 at 8:22 PM
(to the tune of eleanor rigby) eleanor rigby
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" should’ve been titled “Thirteen Ways of Being Looked at by a Person When You Are a Blackbird” to center the blackbird’s POV even though the poem is from the POV of people.
December 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" should’ve been titled “Thirteen Ways of Being Looked at by a Person When You Are a Blackbird” to center the blackbird’s POV even though the poem is from the POV of people.
Whenever I eat my breakfast, I pretend like there are hidden cameras all around me, and it’s up to me to just act natural and eat because some visionary Hollywood studio executive has greenlit a movie with the craziest pitch of all time: What if some random guy ate his breakfast?
December 4, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Whenever I eat my breakfast, I pretend like there are hidden cameras all around me, and it’s up to me to just act natural and eat because some visionary Hollywood studio executive has greenlit a movie with the craziest pitch of all time: What if some random guy ate his breakfast?
no context drunk on eggnog thought: fjords are the stealth archers of landforms
December 1, 2025 at 2:02 AM
no context drunk on eggnog thought: fjords are the stealth archers of landforms
They’re booming Margaritaville at the Christmas tree farm.
November 30, 2025 at 1:14 AM
They’re booming Margaritaville at the Christmas tree farm.
terraformed a local river just in time for thanksgiving. now it runs through my yard, powering a mill wheel connected to a pump to keep my 30ft thanksgiving-themed nintendo and peanuts inflatables fully inflated without having to pay the power company a dime
November 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
terraformed a local river just in time for thanksgiving. now it runs through my yard, powering a mill wheel connected to a pump to keep my 30ft thanksgiving-themed nintendo and peanuts inflatables fully inflated without having to pay the power company a dime
my agent loves the opening of my post-apocalyptic "potpunk" western, featuring a 3-page description of rugged, sweat-stained cowboys chewing marijuana like tobacco in a dusty saloon, but she remains unconvinced by the main plot, about a marijuana famine where nobody can get high
November 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM
my agent loves the opening of my post-apocalyptic "potpunk" western, featuring a 3-page description of rugged, sweat-stained cowboys chewing marijuana like tobacco in a dusty saloon, but she remains unconvinced by the main plot, about a marijuana famine where nobody can get high
they should sell capri suns in 20 oz. containers. these little foil pouch thingies don’t have enough in them
November 4, 2025 at 4:25 AM
they should sell capri suns in 20 oz. containers. these little foil pouch thingies don’t have enough in them
simply directing beautiful films in order to curry favor with my cinephile dictator
October 27, 2025 at 6:04 PM
simply directing beautiful films in order to curry favor with my cinephile dictator
Benvolio just keeps striving to preserve peace in Verona while also never backing down when prompted to defend Montague honor. Exemplary NPC behavior.
October 17, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Benvolio just keeps striving to preserve peace in Verona while also never backing down when prompted to defend Montague honor. Exemplary NPC behavior.
Reposted by mark leidner
i think they should make the giant halloween yard skeletons taller. i don't think they're tall enough yet. they should make them taller & taller & taller, until they reach the moon & i can climb up on one & get the hell off this accurséd place
October 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
i think they should make the giant halloween yard skeletons taller. i don't think they're tall enough yet. they should make them taller & taller & taller, until they reach the moon & i can climb up on one & get the hell off this accurséd place
about to hurl a stone discus at an invisible “wall” that only I believe is there. shattering reality itself. and proving a realer reality lies beyond this shell of one that we merely need to throw a discus through to see *hurls discus* *it sails through the sky unimpeded*
October 15, 2025 at 9:01 PM
about to hurl a stone discus at an invisible “wall” that only I believe is there. shattering reality itself. and proving a realer reality lies beyond this shell of one that we merely need to throw a discus through to see *hurls discus* *it sails through the sky unimpeded*
Yorgos Lanthimos, hit me up. I met a guy on the bus last night with a great idea for a movie. I got his number and am texting him now to see if he remembers telling me about it. We both think you'd be perfect for the material.
October 15, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Yorgos Lanthimos, hit me up. I met a guy on the bus last night with a great idea for a movie. I got his number and am texting him now to see if he remembers telling me about it. We both think you'd be perfect for the material.