Desk Notes by Charles Schifano

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The Invention of the Future
The belief that tomorrow will be different is more revolutionary than most people assume.
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Charles Schifano
6
Burn After Not Reading
If I happen to get hit by a crosstown bus, I would like to ask a favor.
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Charles Schifano
9
Maximization
The best method for pursuing luxury and success is through austerity.
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Charles Schifano
12
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The Problem With Contemporary Writing
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5
Making Judgements
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5
First Drafts
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6
How to Practice Writing
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2
Some Notes on Self-Sabotage
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11
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Sensations of Childhood
Summertime, when you’re young, lasts forever.
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Charles Schifano
14
Black Coffee
As a consequence of World War II, I drink black coffee.
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Charles Schifano
4
If a Darkened Day
Winter comes, jarring in its sudden cold, the days shorter and darker and quieter.
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Charles Schifano
4
Stubbornness
There’s a Simone de Beauvoir line that I’m not sure is quite right.
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Charles Schifano
7
All The Unheard Words
J. M. Coetzee’s new novel, The Pole, contains a horrific scene.
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Charles Schifano
4
The Highest Values
Let’s start right away by splitting art into an arbitrary and completely unreasonable spectrum.
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Charles Schifano
2
The Sentence Stylist
In the hands of a stylist, a reader feels secure.
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Charles Schifano
3
What's Missing from AI Writing
We’ve shrunk every sentence to a mark of identity and a declaration of perspective.
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Charles Schifano
9
A Tragic Sensibility
A tragedy, it is useful to remember, is often the best outcome.
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Charles Schifano
2
Desk Notes by Charles Schifano
Desk Notes by Charles Schifano
Exploring writing, travel, and literature.
Most Popular—Literature
The Problem With Contemporary Writing
To care about the state and quality of writing today is to scream into a void while knowing that the void does nothing but laugh.
Losing a Language
If you have ever learned a new language, you will recognize these struggles.
Most Popular—Personal
Soundless
Nothing makes you doubt the merits of a music education more than a neighbor who takes up the violin.
Whisper
In the São Paulo summer, the air is salty and thick and the rains are always just minutes away.
Most Popular—Contemporary
The Power Struggle
The purpose of life, it seems abundantly clear, is to charge your devices.
How We Read Now
To stroll through the modern library in your pocket is to watch the once static and eternal books around you contort and transform before your very eyes.

Desk Notes by Charles Schifano

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