Michael Riches
@michaelriches.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of English, Appalachian State University | writing on California, African American literature, frontiers, crime fiction | straddling uncomfortably the intersection between Bartleby the Scrivener and Gonzo the Great
Everything about the music business in the late sixties sounds completely fake
October 20, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Everything about the music business in the late sixties sounds completely fake
“You know, these plans are quite similar to the ones they have at the Reform conference”
September 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM
“You know, these plans are quite similar to the ones they have at the Reform conference”
In Sonic 3 (2024), End of the Line by the Traveling Wilburys (1988) is used as diegetic music in a flashback to 50 years before the present-day events of the movie.
All the more galling given that a period-appropriate pop song (The Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice) is used elsewhere in the movie.
All the more galling given that a period-appropriate pop song (The Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice) is used elsewhere in the movie.
September 22, 2025 at 1:11 AM
In Sonic 3 (2024), End of the Line by the Traveling Wilburys (1988) is used as diegetic music in a flashback to 50 years before the present-day events of the movie.
All the more galling given that a period-appropriate pop song (The Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice) is used elsewhere in the movie.
All the more galling given that a period-appropriate pop song (The Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice) is used elsewhere in the movie.
Pete Mandelson? The Hartlepool MP?
September 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Pete Mandelson? The Hartlepool MP?
ill-advisedly ambiguous marketing copy from Spirit, here
June 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
ill-advisedly ambiguous marketing copy from Spirit, here
I don't ask for much, Rick.
June 17, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I don't ask for much, Rick.
The year is 1955 and I am profoundly misunderstanding Bill Haley and His Comets
June 16, 2025 at 1:58 AM
The year is 1955 and I am profoundly misunderstanding Bill Haley and His Comets
look you've upset him now
June 9, 2025 at 2:30 PM
look you've upset him now
Terrified by the 14-legged beasts apparently working at the NYT
June 6, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Terrified by the 14-legged beasts apparently working at the NYT
Discovering how much literally anything costs on my health plan:
June 3, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Discovering how much literally anything costs on my health plan:
What an unexpected delight to receive such a positive and insightful review of my book from Sofía Martinicorena in the latest issue of Western American Literature. So heartening when someone really reads the work, gets what it's trying to do, sees what its value is.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
June 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
What an unexpected delight to receive such a positive and insightful review of my book from Sofía Martinicorena in the latest issue of Western American Literature. So heartening when someone really reads the work, gets what it's trying to do, sees what its value is.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
Incredible scenes here in the intro to Barbara Dodds' "Negro Literature for High School Students" (1968), which to be clear is a deeply admirable and farsighted book, but they sure don't write 'em like that any more
June 2, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Incredible scenes here in the intro to Barbara Dodds' "Negro Literature for High School Students" (1968), which to be clear is a deeply admirable and farsighted book, but they sure don't write 'em like that any more
You’re laughing. They yassified Ernest Hemingway and you’re laughing.
May 30, 2025 at 1:40 PM
You’re laughing. They yassified Ernest Hemingway and you’re laughing.
I don't want fried chicken to make me confront my mortality
May 28, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I don't want fried chicken to make me confront my mortality
As a scholar of California I really ought to buy this baffling artifact
May 25, 2025 at 12:54 PM
As a scholar of California I really ought to buy this baffling artifact
Truly cannot decide if Barbra's new album is "dream blunt rotation" or "nightmare blunt rotation" territory
May 22, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Truly cannot decide if Barbra's new album is "dream blunt rotation" or "nightmare blunt rotation" territory
Time has not been kind to Blazin' Squad
May 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Time has not been kind to Blazin' Squad
As we enter conclave season, it's more important than ever to stay vigilant!
May 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
As we enter conclave season, it's more important than ever to stay vigilant!
Nine years since I started grad school, but still, every time
May 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Nine years since I started grad school, but still, every time
Once again it is time to play "real person or minor Pynchon character name"?
May 5, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Once again it is time to play "real person or minor Pynchon character name"?
Going to tell my kids this was Mindhunter
April 8, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Going to tell my kids this was Mindhunter
Sometimes feels like academic book reviews are 50% "glowing appraisal of book by person in my field who wields power over me," 40% "this is just a list of the chapters," and 10% "attention-seeking hatchet job." Here I've tried to engage in a sincerely critical way but not, I hope, an ungenerous one.
April 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Sometimes feels like academic book reviews are 50% "glowing appraisal of book by person in my field who wields power over me," 40% "this is just a list of the chapters," and 10% "attention-seeking hatchet job." Here I've tried to engage in a sincerely critical way but not, I hope, an ungenerous one.
Apparently I'm due a small refund
April 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Apparently I'm due a small refund
Doing my first ever American tax return, a mood:
April 3, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Doing my first ever American tax return, a mood: