Email Author Michael Leaverton

2011 Stories by Michael Leaverton

• Release the Hounds

  published July 27, 2011

  Web comics are often overlooked by the art cognoscenti. The reason is clear: The cognoscenti like to move about the world looking at art, on walls... More >>

• Re-Sounding

  published July 20, 2011

  We understand a certain hesitance toward experimental music performances: Nobody wants to squat in a damp culvert listening to cats scream for 36... More >>

• “A Brutal, Indignant, Lunatic Howl.”

  published July 13, 2011

  What do we do with the soundtrack to a book? If we were an august reviewer like Harold Bloom, we’d open the book, put the CD on the coffee... More >>

• Digital Scatterbrain

  published July 13, 2011

  We see the best minds of our generation sending lolcats. And oversharing. And spending too much time retweeting short-form witticisms while not... More >>

• This Is Not a Pipe

  published July 6, 2011

  When French realist painter Paul Delaroche saw a photograph in 1839, he reportedly proclaimed, “From today, painting is dead.” He... More >>

• Bigger Than Ever

  published June 29, 2011

  Some artists make large-scale art for dubious reasons, including egomania as well as the continued and maddening presence, despite a steadfast... More >>

• Young Adult

  published June 15, 2011

  We were once slightly bitter about wunderkind comedy writer Simon Rich, a former Harvard Lampoon president, the son of former New... More >>

• What’s It Going to Be Then, Eh?

  published June 15, 2011

  In 1986, Anthony Burgess got his wish: The last chapter of A Clockwork Orange was finally added to the American edition. He wasn’t... More >>

• Baby Pride

  published June 15, 2011

  Whenever people we know get pregnant, we ask them, “Who’s your lactation consultant?” because we know that will make them stare at... More >>

• The Pride of Flint, Mich.

  published June 15, 2011

  Although Sandra Bernhard is touring under the banner of her new comedy album, I Love Being Me, Don’t You?, we don’t think... More >>

• Live From Studio Z

  published June 15, 2011

  On any number of Saturdays over your entire life, watching TV past midnight, you might have thought, “Why does this suck so bad?” It... More >>

• From Sloshed to Schloss

  published June 1, 2011

  We’ve all been there: newly sober, not drinking at a party, white-knuckling it through the accusatory pssst of freed beer caps and the... More >>

• Portrait of the Artist Living in a Parking Lot

  published May 25, 2011

  You might be weary of the typical young memoirist who suffers some unimaginable hardship, like a high-level internship, only to lose it all, gain... More >>

• Otherwise, There Will Be Blood

  published May 25, 2011

  Anybody who raises chickens in the city automatically becomes Someone to Know, if not That Person. But it’s nothing next to tending 70,000... More >>

• Still Building This City

  published May 18, 2011

  S.F. manufacturing is well past its heyday — our companies now make buttons to click, not to press, fasten, or stick in a lapel. Nonetheless,... More >>

• In Which Our Writer Gets a Tiny Bit Testy

  published May 18, 2011

  In the city, dueling cultural fairs are nothing new. On any given weekend, we have any number of gem fairs going against any number of... More >>

• This Is a Preview

  published May 4, 2011

  If comedian Demetri Martin’s career were dropped into one of his trademark pie charts, one slice would be “Comedy Central... More >>

• Make Offer

  published April 27, 2011

  In this age of recycling-awareness saturation and DIY everything, creating couture from used clothes for a runway fashion show should strike fear... More >>

• Born Frank Feranna

  published April 13, 2011

  If you're forced to pick the coolest guy in hair metal, pick Nikki Sixx, despite Duff McKagan's decades-long body-art project to mirror the... More >>

• The Garden of Evil

  published April 6, 2011

  Our favorite Victorian hothouse offers a botanical tableau perfectly suited for the dark themes of Halloween. It's devoted not to rebirth and... More >>

• Old's Cool

  published March 23, 2011

  When volume one of Autobiography of Mark Twain hit stores last year, it seemed like half of America found a Christmas gift for their... More >>

• Winning

  published March 23, 2011

  Only four teams have won at least two World Series in a row; come October, the Giants will be the fifth. The countdown starts Friday, when what's... More >>

• They've Got You Pegged

  published March 23, 2011

  Whenever someone asks us for sex advice -- or any advice, really -- we tell them, “Figure out your stance on pegging.” Good Vibrations... More >>

• All That Power

  published March 9, 2011

  We often see comics used as a jumping off point for more rarefied air, but we don't often see the physical objects -- the actual comics -- taken... More >>

• The Beach Boys

  published March 9, 2011

  The typical take on surfing in surf films usually concerns how idyllic the whole thing is — call it the “cowabunga” narrative. This... More >>