Neil Serven
@neilserven.bsky.social
Fiction & essays, novel in progress. Co-owner @federalstbooks.bsky.social . Candlepin bowler. Language stuff. A lot of crank air. Used to write the dictionary.
Western Massachusetts.
Western Massachusetts.
Pinned
Neil Serven
@neilserven.bsky.social
· May 30
Grateful to @postroadmag.bsky.social for publishing my story WE DON’T JOKE ABOUT SUCH THINGS, which I workshopped quite a long time ago in a Bread Loaf class led by @alixohlin.bsky.social
I believe this is the only possible matchup between two singular creatures in North American sports.
December 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I believe this is the only possible matchup between two singular creatures in North American sports.
Having a Coke with you is even more fun than going to San Sebastián
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Having a Coke with you is even more fun than going to San Sebastián
But when you got to know him, his sage wit came through.
He had salt and pepper hair. And oregano eyebrows. His lips were basil leaves. His entire head was a jar of Italian seasoning
December 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
But when you got to know him, his sage wit came through.
Reposted by Neil Serven
Place special orders with us by SATURDAY 12/13 to get them here by 12/24! Shipping and processing may be a little sluggish, and we have weather to think about — so let us know if you have something in mind that we can help you find.
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Place special orders with us by SATURDAY 12/13 to get them here by 12/24! Shipping and processing may be a little sluggish, and we have weather to think about — so let us know if you have something in mind that we can help you find.
Webster asks, "Merriam, how do you, with your choice of career, live in the city on a low-five figure salary in publishing?"
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
December 3, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Webster asks, "Merriam, how do you, with your choice of career, live in the city on a low-five figure salary in publishing?"
Went out to shovel and found that the neighbor kid, who is a Boy Scout, had already done a pass. I have officially reached the age of “elder neighbor who should be helped.”
December 3, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Went out to shovel and found that the neighbor kid, who is a Boy Scout, had already done a pass. I have officially reached the age of “elder neighbor who should be helped.”
Solomon Grundy,
Cyber-shopped on a Monday,
Gave on Tuesday,
Binge-watched “Wednesday,”
Got thirsty on Thursday,
Blacked out on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
Cyber-shopped on a Monday,
Gave on Tuesday,
Binge-watched “Wednesday,”
Got thirsty on Thursday,
Blacked out on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
December 2, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Solomon Grundy,
Cyber-shopped on a Monday,
Gave on Tuesday,
Binge-watched “Wednesday,”
Got thirsty on Thursday,
Blacked out on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
Cyber-shopped on a Monday,
Gave on Tuesday,
Binge-watched “Wednesday,”
Got thirsty on Thursday,
Blacked out on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
Reposted by Neil Serven
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by Neil Serven
This panel from 1985 never gets old.
November 28, 2025 at 9:12 PM
This panel from 1985 never gets old.
Reposted by Neil Serven
At long last, here's my conversation with wonderful @elizmccrack.bsky.social, whose wonderful new A Long Game goes on sale (at least in the US) next week!
A Long Game
[my conversation with Elizabeth McCracken]
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
At long last, here's my conversation with wonderful @elizmccrack.bsky.social, whose wonderful new A Long Game goes on sale (at least in the US) next week!
I keep imagining the WH staff re-editing or putting on entirely fake news broadcasts and piping them live to his TV like they do for the mom in Good-Bye Lenin! who’ll have another heart attack if she finds out that communism fell in Germany.
Cool story, but Tim Burchett was not on Fox & Friends today. The show played a short clip of a previous Fox hit Burchett did and a confused Trump apparently thought it was live. (1/2)
November 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I keep imagining the WH staff re-editing or putting on entirely fake news broadcasts and piping them live to his TV like they do for the mom in Good-Bye Lenin! who’ll have another heart attack if she finds out that communism fell in Germany.
Don't let those swill merchants rewrite you, Charlie Brown.
Now go back and get your fuckin' shine box, Charlie Brown
I didn’t come here to fuck around, I come here to smoke, Charlie Brown
November 24, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Don't let those swill merchants rewrite you, Charlie Brown.
There are 4 types of guys online. No exceptions.
November 19, 2025 at 2:47 AM
There are 4 types of guys online. No exceptions.
Feeling a bit of nostalgia for my erstwhile lexicography career this week in light of the (surprisingly kept under wraps!) release of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Twelfth Edition and recently learning of this unexpected singular mention in Stefan Fatsis’s Unabridged.
November 18, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Feeling a bit of nostalgia for my erstwhile lexicography career this week in light of the (surprisingly kept under wraps!) release of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Twelfth Edition and recently learning of this unexpected singular mention in Stefan Fatsis’s Unabridged.
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?
November 17, 2025 at 10:48 PM
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?
I'm not a real doctor
But I am a real worm
I am an actual worm
I live like a worm
But I am a real worm
I am an actual worm
I live like a worm
November 17, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I'm not a real doctor
But I am a real worm
I am an actual worm
I live like a worm
But I am a real worm
I am an actual worm
I live like a worm
I hope this CBS promo for a Boston-set series that misspelled Donnie Wahlberg’s name was expensive.
![The names DONNIE WHALBERG [sic] and SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN in while all-caps over an image of the Boston skyline, from a promo for the CBS series BOSTON BLUE](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dtfemkcvevwcubino2xfau5w/bafkreic2sjzbqggpde6fxqfjykv7ra73tqqsqe42as33cagjggwfrkkmna@jpeg)
November 16, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I hope this CBS promo for a Boston-set series that misspelled Donnie Wahlberg’s name was expensive.
I hadn’t known “cut rate” had anything other than a negative meaning before I ran into this photo at a local Walgreens. Got double-vaxxed today.
November 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I hadn’t known “cut rate” had anything other than a negative meaning before I ran into this photo at a local Walgreens. Got double-vaxxed today.
Once I went for imaging and they started doing images of my knee and the technician asked what I did to it, like she thought I tore my ACL while snowboarding. I told her I was there for my stomach. I was seventeen.
November 15, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Once I went for imaging and they started doing images of my knee and the technician asked what I did to it, like she thought I tore my ACL while snowboarding. I told her I was there for my stomach. I was seventeen.
Reposted by Neil Serven
Now that I've read this book:
You should be preordering the hell out of it.
It's huge fun, and hugely informative. (And huge fun.)
You should be preordering the hell out of it.
It's huge fun, and hugely informative. (And huge fun.)
Good morning, kids and people, today in book, we have a cover:
(Preorder this jawn at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555914... and use the Bookshop link if you can!)
(Preorder this jawn at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555914... and use the Bookshop link if you can!)
November 13, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Now that I've read this book:
You should be preordering the hell out of it.
It's huge fun, and hugely informative. (And huge fun.)
You should be preordering the hell out of it.
It's huge fun, and hugely informative. (And huge fun.)
Boaty McBoatFace had a legitimate precedent after all.
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Boaty McBoatFace had a legitimate precedent after all.
Working at the store. Customer said “it’s a beautiful night” and I was anticipating “beautiful store” so I said “thank you” and with that I took credit for the weather.
November 8, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Working at the store. Customer said “it’s a beautiful night” and I was anticipating “beautiful store” so I said “thank you” and with that I took credit for the weather.
Reposted by Neil Serven
#tbt sorry we missed this, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM
#tbt sorry we missed this, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
"But what none of them had counted on was Fulton’s need. Not just for a job, but for humans to have freewill." Marking this one to read again, "Love of Fate" by Rafael Frumkin @electricliterature.com: electricliterature.com/love-of-fate...
His Sex Addiction Is Proof of Free Will - Electric Literature
“Love of Fate” by Rafael Frumkin, recommended by Halimah Marcus for Electric Literature
electricliterature.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
"But what none of them had counted on was Fulton’s need. Not just for a job, but for humans to have freewill." Marking this one to read again, "Love of Fate" by Rafael Frumkin @electricliterature.com: electricliterature.com/love-of-fate...