Ben East Books

Grid of posts 2×3

  • Other Jobs Feds Can Do for $0

    It’s our fourth week working for the Republic in exchange for no money. In these lean times ($0 income!) a few other jobs I can do for equal pay—but greater pleasure—have crossed my mind. These include: 10. Post reviews of my travels to TripAdvisor(dot)com 9.    Polish tombstones at my local cemetery 8.    Document… Read more

  • Death Star

    We call this project the Death Star. The Death Star is going up across from my flat. Just outside our bedroom window, as a matter of fact. Here’s an eyewitness account of how they build the Death Star: After fielding an unusual duty call at midnight last night, I returned to bed at 01:00, badly… Read more

  • Lit Mag Guy

    End of last year  I offered to help produce a school literary magazine, figuring I might be useful editing the 80 or so submissions. Yesterday I learned the organizers really need someone to pull the issue together, format it, give it that polished look. Why’d they turn to me? My inexperience coupled with their tight… Read more

  • Mending Wall

    Robert Frost’s great poem, outwardly a critique on a pre-existing wall, arguably has little to do with the hypothetical wall being proffered today. But Frost’s wall stands for so much more, and the critique applies more universally than merely to stone piled on stone. The critique can be said to include any barrier that divides… Read more

  • The Non-Business Plan

    Fellow blogger and author C.S. Boyack found the right word to describe what many might otherwise call a New Year’s resolution (he wisely disavows the concept). Rather, Boyack puts forward a ‘business plan‘ for the year ahead—which platforms he’ll look to and why, beta readers and critique groups, ideas for the next narrative, etc. With… Read more

  • The Dharma Bums of Bolton Notch

    Earlier this week I climbed Pidurangala, a high cliff overlooking the forests around Sigiriya’s ancient ruins in central Sri Lanka. Painted numbers on a rough board indicated the climb would rise 628 steps, uneven and rough-hewn from wet stone. I counted hundreds more than that before reaching the Buddha in repose, just below the summit.… Read more