As one of my favorite blogs recently said, the golden age of Stephen King is the age of thirteen. I was a huge fan from the ages of eleven to fourteen, and devoured his early work. I recently re-read a few of his earlier works, including “The Shining,” so when I saw that its belated sequel, “Dr. Sleep” (the latter was published in 2013, or 36 years after the publication of The Shining), was on sale on Kindle, I decided to give it a whirl. I’d say it was a mixed bag.
(more…)Author: Ray Dorl
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The Assassination of the Fourth Amendment by the Coward, John Roberts
A few weeks ago, I wrote about John Roberts taking a piss on the Fourth Amendment. The practical consequences have been predictably horrifying–particularly in my beloved home town of Chicago
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Spirits – a horror story (part one of five)
It was bedtime when my six-year-old son Eli whispered, “Daddy, I think your daddy is a ghost now.”
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Reading Roundup – July and August 2025
I’m trying to catch up on books I read in July and August, 2025, so here are some capsule reviews. I already covered The Brothers Karamazov and The Violet Hour in separate posts.Books are listed in chronological order by the dates in which I read them.
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Letter from the Management – September 26, 2025
First off, I want to thank everyone who has read or visited this website. I’ve had a lot of fun writing everything on here, and I hope you’ve had fun reading it.
Second, I finally added a “subscribe” button – so make sure you hit that button and enter your e-mail if you’re interested in getting updates from the site.
Finally, I’m excited to announce Ray Dorl’s first annual “Spook-tacular” October. I’ll be posting an installment of an original horror short story titled, “Spirits,” every Friday of October, beginning on October 3….which means the spine-tingling conclusion will be posted on Halloween morning. I’ll also be posting a book review of a horror novel every Monday of October, starting on October 6.
I’m guessing that will be the bulk of my posting during October, since I’m busy working on new material recounting two trips to Alaska I made–first as a broke and wild-ass 21-year-old, when I worked in commercial fishing; and second as a more mature (???) half-centenarian traveling with my family. But with all the idiocy going on in the world, I’m guessing I’ll have some other random posts during that time.
So thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy what I have coming in October!
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Book Review – Four Horses, Seven Seals by Ben Beard
Disclaimer: the author, Ben Beard, is a good friend of mine (and occasional writing partner), and he recently shouted me out on his excellent blog.1
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Book Review: “A Physical Education” by Casey Johnston
A book about lifting? Talk about combining my two passions….
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Book Review- “The Violet Hour,” by Katie Roiphe
This one hit me hard – I read it just a few months after my mother’s death, as I was trying to make sense of it all. It’s truly meditation on death, with Roiphe profiling the last days of a small group of great writers and thinkers: John Updike, Susan Sontag, Dylan Thomas, Sigmund Freud, and Maurice Sendak (with some “bonus material” involving James Salter, who Roiphe interviewed during the writing of this book immediately before his death).
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Home Gym Review Series: The Multigrip Bar
Another “specialty” barbell I love is the multigrip bar, a/k/a the “Swiss” or “football” bar. The multigrip bar is a good barbell to use for shoulder safety while bench pressing, and at the same time poses unique biomechanical challenges that will benefit the bench press–analogous to the Safety Squat Bar with the squat.
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