Dr. Metablog

Dr. Metablog is the nom de blague of Vivian de St. Vrain, the pen name of a resident of the mountain west who writes about language, books, politics, or whatever else comes to mind. Under the name Otto Onions (Oh NIGH uns), Vivian de St. Vrain is the author of “The Big Book of False Etymologies” (Oxford, 1978) and, writing as Amber Feldhammer, is editor of the classic anthology of confessional poetry, “My Underwear” (Virago, 1997).

April 2013

  • It had been a long time since I'd read a decent hyena book, so I opened Mikita Brottman's Hyena (London, 2012) with great anticipation. I'm sorry to report that it was a bit of a disappointment: not nearly enough biology and too much undigested "reception history."  Yes, it's true that hyenas are regarded with almost…

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  • Now only one of my teachers survives — and then only because he's a centenarian. Steve Parrish, next-to-last, who was very kind to me back there in the 1950s, died a year ago at the age of 90. News travels slowly.  I now realize that Steve was only a couple of years out of grad…

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