CJ Green is the managing editor of the Mockingbird website and head of Mockingbird Publications (store.mbird.com). His favorite books are for ages 7-12.
About CJ Green
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"Have a Token Lent" and Other Seasonal Suggestions from a Weary Jesuit
John L’Heureux was a Jesuit for 17 years before he quit in ’71 and got married. He’s also written an insane amount of fiction and poetry which I am slowly working through, and loving. I first encountered his work with The Rise and Rise of Annie Clark from last autumn’s New Yorker and am currently flipping […]
The Risk in the Naming of Love
There’s a trope in teenage romance movies where one of the young lovers will drop the L word at the wrong time. Worse, they might even say, “…forever.” After that, you know the relationship’s going to bomb. It’s too early, and the kids don’t know each other. They haven’t yet uncovered how much they doubt […]
Another Week Ends: Bad Romance, Marriage Therapy, Shania Twain, First Date at Denny's, Techno Tyranny, and the Paradox of Control
1. In high school, a friend of mine found a single rose waiting for her on each of her desks for six classes in a row; she was later offered yet another six roses and asked to the prom via guitar-serenade. The routine was sweet but seemed a little familiar, as if from a movie. […]
The Peril of Good Things (from Milkman, Pt 2)
I tried to…unravel the distortions, have her right mind restored to her. She said it was impossible, that it was perilous to focus on good things when there were bad things, all these bad things, she said, that could not be forgot. She said old dark things as well as new dark things had to […]
Cathedral of the Perpetual Hustle
Over the weekend a conversation with friends veered toward work-life balance and the ever-hungry email monster. We wondered whether it was normal to check our emails after work. Almost all of us confessed that we do. We discussed whether our employers should be contacting us after hours (a teacher was expected to answer texts from […]
Another Week Ends: Conan Reborn, Call-Out Culture, Rockstar Sobriety, Sick Notes, Bookstores, Bossy Razors, and the Bad Place
1. This week, let’s start with the afterlife of Conan O’Brien. After a 4-month hiatus, Team Coco revives, now completely made over: shorter episodes, a more informal set-up — also more embracing of the life cycle of late-night. With 25+ years under the belt, Conan talks to The New York Times about his inevitably approaching retirement/career-death. He […]
“As Regards This Psycho-Political Atmosphere…” (from Milkman, Pt 1)
As regards this psycho-political atmosphere, with its rules of allegiance, of tribal identification, of what was allowed and not allowed, matters didn’t stop at ‘their names’ and at ‘our names’, at ‘us’ and ‘them’, at ‘our community’ and ‘their community’, at ‘over the road’, ‘over the water’ and ‘over the border’. Other issues had similar […]
The Dog Is Loose Again: A Stephen King Monster That Will Not Die
The occasion for writing this presented itself last week during a late-night trip to the grocery store. What I bought was a frozen pizza but not before taking the long way to the checkout, through Books/Magazines, where, between Danielle Steele and Stephen King, was Stephen King: a reprint of his 1990 novella The Sun Dog. […]
Another Week Ends: A Peaceful Prison, Accidental Killers, Walking Report Cards, Nihilist Dads, Sin and Mental Health, and a Lot of Exorcisms
1. We’ve all been there. Exhausted from the daily grind… Overwhelmed by expectations from work and family and social commitments… Needing the peace and quiet of a nice, structured jail cell… Wait, what? Our first story this week (ht CB) tells of a mock prison where ‘inmates’ pay $90 to spend 24 hours in solitary confinement, […]
John Stuart Mill's Crisis of Faith
This excerpt comes from John Gray’s latest book Seven Types of Atheism; the chapter is “Secular Humanism, a Sacred Relic,” where Gray deliberates over ‘the religion of humanity.’ In this passage, he tells of nineteenth-century philosopher John Stuart Mill’s faith in personal satisfaction and human progress — and the voice of doubt that arose amidst it: …John […]
Another Week Ends: A Dark Consensus, Social Credit, Untrainable People, New Detective, Complicit Christianity, and the Unimportance of Jerry Seinfeld
1. A fascinating parable appeared on NPR this week, a 5-minute radio story about China’s “social credit system.” Apparently, this system of credit scoring functions like the US’s in that your financial history affects your financial future: it differs, though, in that “China’s system also considers information like what you buy and how you treat […]
In Praise of Confusion and John L'Heureux
John L’Heureux’s latest short story, published recently in the New Yorker, tells of a woman who wants a sign from God…and receives one, just not in the way she expected. You can read the whole thing here. It’s called “The Rise and Rise of Annie Clark.” Annie, a “capital-C Catholic,” is trying to measure her sanctity. […]
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