About

Cheryl Miller is a 2007 Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellow and the editor of Doublethink magazine. Her work has appeared in such publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Wall Street Journal, Reason, and The Claremont Review of Books.

She can be contacted at cheryl [at] americasfuture [dot] org.

Read my other blog. The one that's not obnoxious and self-absorbed!

Recent publications

"The Master" in The Claremont Review of Books

"Scary Rise of the 'Sanctimommy'" in The Washington Times

"Why Malamud Faded" in Commentary

"Blogging Infertility" in The New Atlantis

"Outsourcing Childbirth" in The Wall Street Journal

"The Painless Peace of Twilight Sleep" in The New Atlantis

"The Genius of Old New York" in The Claremont Review of Books

"Parenthood At Any Price" in The New Atlantis

"Modern Girls and the Moral Revival They Are Leading" in The Washington Times

ARTICLE ARCHIVE

Links

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

In Print

My latest column in Culture 11 is now out. As always, props to my awesome editor Peter Suderman for a great headline: "We (Don't) Suck Young Blood." Check it out:

When most people think of vampires, they think of blood and guts, capes and fangs, and grisly, sexually-tinged violence. What they almost certainly don't think of are chaste teens, Jane Austen, and stay-at-home Mormon moms. Yet right now, the hottest name in vampire lit is Stephenie Meyer, mother of three and outspoken proponent of abstinence. Meyer is the creator of a vampire love saga, the Twilight series, with fans so intense they call themselves "Twilighters" or "Twi-hards." The final installment, Breaking Dawn, sold over a million copies on its first sales day, and Twilighters are already in a frenzy over the upcoming movie adaptation of Twilight, starring Kristin Stewart.

N.B., Take a look too at James Poulous's super-smart piece on what Sarah Palin and Barack Obama have in common.

Labels: shameless self-promotion, the arts

posted by Cheryl # 9:14 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

In Print

I have an article in the new online magazine, Culture 11 (formerly LibertyWire). It just launched today, and it already rocks which is no surprise given the excellent editors. Peter Suderman is the arts guy; Conor Friedersdorf is doing features, and James Poulos is handling big-think politics. I'm also occasionally contributing to the "LadyBlog." Take a look!

So here's my first piece. It's about how all the '80s rock stars of my youth are turning up in Nashville:

Rock 'n' roll may never die, but that doesn't mean its practitioners won't grow old. So what happens then? Some aging guitar-slingers show up in rehab, others on VH1 reality shows; lately, though, many have ventured East to settle in an unlikely new home: Tennessee. "Nashville," reads a popular T-shirt, "Where Rock Stars Come to Die."

Labels: shameless self-promotion, the arts

posted by Cheryl # 1:46 PM 0 Comments

Monday, April 7, 2008

Asides

Just got back from Denver and I must say: Men! I take back all the bad things I've said about you recently. You are all so pleasant and nice, putting my heavy carry-on in the overhead bin. I promise to give you the benefit of the doubt from now on (yes, even FLG, though he doesn't read this blog anymore).

This is my new favorite blog. For those who question my love of shoes, I direct you here. I also have much love for her post on dinner at Per Se: "Once all this was through we transitioned to dessert via the cheese course -- Brillat Savarin (a soft cows-milk cheese vaguely reminiscent of brie, named after the late eighteenth/early nineteenth-century gastronome whose biography I started to tell at the table and then I checked myself because honestly, Helen, shut up."

I am finally reading Middlemarch, formerly the book I was most ashamed to have never read. I can't say why it has taken me so long to get to it. For one thing, it has just the kind of heroine I like: insufferable and priggish. (Oh, how I love you, Mansfield Park!) Secondly (and most important), I love Edith Wharton; Edith Wharton loves George Eliot; hence, I will love George Eliot. The only obstacle was Adam Bede, which I read in college and detested. So far Middlemarch is much better, but I'm only a hundred pages in. There are 800 more pages for it to go downhill.

Lastly, I am making this pasta for a girl's night in this evening. After, we will watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and eat cookies. What a wonderful world.

Labels: I heart EW, lit crit, the arts, travels

posted by Cheryl # 6:26 PM 1 Comments

Friday, March 7, 2008

My Scarlett Johansson Problem

Along with my architecture education, I've been trying to convince J. of the greatness of classic film. This has not worked out so well--mostly because he succeeded in convincing me of the greatness of The Wire first, and now that's all we watch. But pre-Wire, I had just begun to introduce him to Alfred Hitchcock. We saw exactly one film, Vertigo, albeit the greatest Hitchcock film ever. (And yes, North by Northwest is a strong contender, but Vertigo is still better.)

It's probably for the best that our experiment was so short-lived since his main observation at the time was that he found Kim Novak to be "matronly." I was slightly reassured when he explained that (the decidedly not stick-thin) Scarlett Johansson was more to his liking. That is, until I realized serious cleavage makes up for a lot. And that Scarlett Johansson is only "fat" compared to Kate Bosworth, who is now more bobblehead doll than human being. Alas.

Anyway, all of this is a roundabout way of saying I think the old movie stars are a much more glamorous group than the current crop (and I hate Scarlett Johansson). As proof, I submit this Vanity Fair slideshow recreating iconic moments from Hitchcock films. (Don't miss the "behind-the-scenes report" where the director boasts about spending half of Africa's GDP to get these shots.)

My quick assessment: Renee Zellweger as Kim Novak? Seriously? (Also, she just looks weird in that shot.) Naomi Watts makes a good Tippi Hedren; Scarlett Johansson isn't bad as Grace Kelly--better than Gwyneth Paltrow anyway. Note how all the men cast as Cary Grant fail miserably.

Labels: alas, gender wars, the arts

posted by Cheryl # 10:48 AM 4 Comments

Friday, February 29, 2008

My Continuing Education

Michael Blowhard's entertaining posts on architecture have recently got me reading up on the subject. (Also, my new guy is an architecture buff, and I need something else to say about buildings other than, "Seems sturdy. Lots of windows." Or in the case of the HUD building, "I don't know. It's just ugly.")

So to further my education, I purchased The Sourcebook of Contemporary Architecture. For the most part, I can't say I've been too impressed, nor have I come up with anything more informed to say. Then I came across this:

It's the Selfridges building in Birmingham, U.K.! It's a mall! And I love it! Doesn't it look like something from Oz? Or an alien spaceship? (More pics here, and check out some cool night shots here. I like how it seems to change color depending on the time of day.)

I'm well aware that this will probably end up on James Howard Kunstler's list of eyesores of the month (if it already hasn't), but I glory in my bad aesthetic judgment. So much so that I freely admit to being obsessed with this: the "Tropical Islands" biodome in Germany. It has the world's largest indoor rain forest and fake dinosaurs. Also seven-fully stocked bars, which is seven more than the actual rain forest. Basically, I need to go here before I die.

Labels: the arts

posted by Cheryl # 11:48 AM 0 Comments