D. J. Reddall
Bio
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
Stories (246/0)
- Runner-Up in Critique Challenge
Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark"Runner-Up in Critique Challenge
One of the most powerful parts of this play appears when its protagonist decides to pretend to be mad, the better to find out who others truly are. Ask anyone odd: the other humans will reveal themselves when you act strangely in their company. You will learn many, bitter lessons.
By D. J. Reddall8 months ago in Critique
Strange Doctor
She was doing what she could despite the ambient weirdness. A student approached her and asked, “So, like, Miss Peata? Is it okay if I call you that? I don’t want to seem all, like, passive aggressive or whatever… so like, what if the main character is like, just drunk or whatever? Would that, like, be a good answer on the quiz?”
By D. J. Reddall9 months ago in Fiction
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Larry David sets his misanthropic muse free in an ingenious, incendiary way in this show. He blends wild improvisation with the careful construction of ethical conundrums to make us laugh first at him and his extraordinary and variegated supporting cast and then at ourselves. Satirical spite sustains this program's power.
By D. J. Reddall9 months ago in Critique
Seinfeld
The moral logic of this show about nothing is perfect, which explains why so many found the finale frustrating. In an absurd world where greed, lust and unbridled enthusiasm guide four silly friends through myriad misadventures that blend Jerry’s Socratic sarcasm with Larry David’s smirking misanthropy, laughing justice ultimately rules.
By D. J. Reddall9 months ago in Critique
- Runner-Up in Mythmaker Challenge
Uncle, Whence Laughter?Runner-Up in Mythmaker Challenge
The other children orbited Gunther like mocking moons. He had always moved and spoken slowly and clumsily. Sensing his vulnerability, his peers made an elaborate sport of teasing, deriding and ridiculing the poor lad.
By D. J. Reddall9 months ago in Fiction
Winter Warriors
In September of 2022, I had a very strange experience: I was teaching a class and I suddenly lost my balance and bounced off the white board at the front of the room like an insect ricocheting off of a windshield. I recovered my equilibrium, finished the lecture and made my way (rather unsteadily) to the Emergency Room. Given the fact that the pandemic was still in progress, I was not surprised to wait seven hours for some medical attention. I am Canadian, and therefore I am grateful that patience is the only cost of treatment. During my wait, a fellow human who was clearly suffering from an acute psychological malady of some kind made several attempts to disrobe in the waiting area. Each time, a security guard, who appeared to know him by name, gently admonished him to desist. For the purposes of this tale, I will call him Jake. After I was admitted, I was given a series of tests, in the course of which I asked a physician to contact the department for which I teach, to let my students know that I would not be released in time to teach classes the following morning. I also asked her about Jake. “Oh, Jake!” she replied, “He’s a regular here. Did he get his pants off this time?” Human beings can adapt to virtually any circumstances, no matter how strange; they can also become rooted in communities under the most unusual conditions.
By D. J. Reddallabout a year ago in Unbalanced