Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 14/10/2026In Gerald Mast’s book on Howard Hawks, the director told Hemingway he could make a “good picture” out of his worst book. When Hemingway asked what his worst book was, Hawks said, “That bunch of junk To Have and Have Not.” Though I doubt he really said “bunch of junk,” he did make a great movie. 000 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 14/10/2026Brilliant. Who was your dissertation advisor? I felt this intuitively when I was working on my book and found someone who was covering similar ground and coyly hoarding information while I shared all I had. It made me sad for rather than angry at that person. 000 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 14/10/2026I went to one Open City party where Dean & Britta were playing. Was that the one? 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 08/10/2026With the publication of a translation of The Dog of the South into Spanish by Barcelona-based @dirtyworks.bsky.social Charles Portis is getting some love from this leading literary site. The writer dives into the @libraryofamerica.bsky.social edition (and name checks yours truly as well). 081 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Buddy Miller / Chocolate Genius cover of Roger Miller’s “Dang Me” youtu.be/Aomq0Lh-kVg?...youtu.beDang MeYouTube video by Buddy Miller - Topic 110 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I so admired his Slate tribute upon Portis’s death that after rereading it last year, I wrote to ask him if he had it in the can and updated it at the news. He said, No, he wrote it on the spot. I was astounded. Hands down one of the best Portis pieces I’ve ever read and I’ve read them all. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Disappointed that Rectify didn’t make the New York Times list and I would happily rewatch it over ninety of these. In fact, I think I will… 000 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I’m with you, Drew. It’s not his funniest but it is quite funny, while also being his darkest. Quite an accomplishment. 020 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Congratulations, you’ve beaten Brooks Robinson’s time with the Orioles! 110 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Alas, he’s completely unknown to most people. DM me a good address and I’ll get a copy to you. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Gilbert Rogin’s novels What Happens Next? and Preparations for the Ascent. I can send you the volume that combines the two and for which I wrote the introduction. 120 0
Reposted by Jay JenningsDaniel Radosh @radosh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Republicans have spent the last year trying to defund Dolly Parton 7165532896 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 21/08/2026This study is 2 years old but worth reupping. “When people write by hand, we see noticeably more nerve activity in the parts of the brain that deal with memory and interpretation of new information. This activity plays a key role in the learning process.” norwegianscitechnews.com/2024/08/writ...norwegianscitechnews.comWrite by hand before tablets take overWe learn much better when writing by hand instead of on a keyboard. Using fine motor skills is important for children’s brain development. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 20/08/2026I would be too. I’ve been reading the Library of America early stories. 120 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Holy smokes! That’s like an Angels in the Outfield game! 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I’ve listened to every episode twice and I’m ready for another round. I have a Jan Robinson shirt with ladybugs and watermelons on it. 020 0
Reposted by Jay JenningsGlen David Gold @glenqgold.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Swimming in Rob D’s wake but yes, Valley Heat is a riot and everyone should be listening to it. It’s Lodge 49 + Curb + Charles Portis + karate trophies. 031 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Vesper Flights audiobook is one of my recent favorites. It’s magnificent. 120 0
Reposted by Jay JenningsNeil C. Leach, Jr. @tonup800t.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Melba had been stirring her iced tea violently for about four minutes. She put her face in mine and winked and said, “I’ll bet I know what you like.” From her leering expression I thought she was going to say, “Nooky,” but she said, “I’ll bet you like cowboy stories.” The Dog of the South PORTIS 262 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Recently a Kroger checkout person told me I looked like “that guy from Princess Bride” and I thanked her, then at my car realized she meant Wallace Shawn not Cary Elwes. Ah, life’s rich pageant. 060 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 24/07/2026“No” was the answer, followed by the reply “I’m sleepy,” perhaps from consuming lotus fruit. 000 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 23/07/2026My mother was a classics major at Randolph-Macon, class of 1952, and I have her copy of the Odyssey (in Greek), a 1948 edition first published in 1870. Some images from the book… 130 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 20/07/2026An excellent thread on Donna Tartt’s magnificent audiobook narration of Charles Portis’s True Grit. 031 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 10/07/2026I was surprised recently when my daughter listened to Allan Sherman‘s “Camp Granada” with its lines, “And the head coach says he wants no sissies/so he reads to us from something called Ulysses.” A time when a reference to Ulysses could get a laugh in a parody song. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 06/07/2026I don’t know so much about Appalachian but he definitely drew upon family stories he heard from his Alabama branch and ultimately South Arkansas or ArkLaTex locutions. As for structure and other aspects, I’d have to ponder that. For True Grit, he read a lot of 1st person frontier accounts. 000 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 29/06/2026I’m happy to announce that my book CARRY THE ROCK, about Little Rock Central High’s 2007 football season and the city’s history of race relations, reissued in 2023 by @uarkpress.bsky.social, is now available as an audiobook, narrated by the great Henry Leyva. www.audible.com/pd/B0H6GMCS3...audible.comCarry the RockCheck out this great listen on Audible.com. In 2007, as the fiftieth anniversary of the fight to integrate Little Rock Central High School approached, veteran sportswriter and native son of Little Roc... 020 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Enjoy! I envy your getting to read this for the first time. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Saw him play live in Dallas in 1985 or so and he invited two or three teenage bass players one by one onto stage and let them play his guitar. So classy. 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 04/05/2026A good enough reason to re-up this from @oxfordamerican.bsky.social and Max George. oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...oxfordamerican.orgHomecoming QueenNorth Augusta Baptist Church is a humble house of God, steepleless and cast in brick, with a pair … 150 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Paul Theroux’s latest, Burma Sahib, about young Orwell. 010 0
Reposted by Jay JenningsElizabeth Nelson @paranoiacs.bsky.social · 15/04/2026Happy birthday to Lowell George, whose wandering spirit and slanted and enchanted imagination enlivens us more with each passing day, even as we lament his tragic absence. A few years back I wrote about Lowell and Little Feat for Oxford American. I'm still willing. oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...oxfordamerican.orgLowell George in Eight and a Half Songs 2346 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 15/04/2026This is so great. I miss working with you on these brilliant deep dives. 120 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 14/04/202690 trips! That’s like the Empire State Stair Climb! 010 0
Jay Jennings @jayjenni.bsky.social · 11/04/2026The full set but you need the Library of America volume as a topper for the Chronology and Notes. 020 0
Reposted by Jay JenningsLevi Stahl @levistahl.bsky.social · 11/04/2026We are having our library shelving rebuilt, which means 200–250 trips from the second floor to the basement carrying shopping bags of books. Jenkins joined me for the first dozen, then tapped out. It’s nice seeing the books. Hello, you wonderful weirdo. 5323 0