Michael Tolkin and the influences of a stressed era

‘Vampirism’ just doesn’t add up

It was pretty jarring, to say the least, to be hit in the face by Michael Tolkin’s angry anti-right, anti-God rant [“This Vampirism Is Made in America,” Dec. 20].

What a pitiful attempt at political allegory. Who needs to hear such a hateful existentialist tirade, especially at this time of the year? I do not appreciate Tolkin’s half-baked brand of allegorical logic either, and I was not at all surprised to learn that he coauthored the screenplay for the film “Nine.” These lines from L.A. Times film critic Betsy Sharkey’s review of “Nine” might well apply to Tolkin’s vampirism essay as well: “But in the end, nothing adds up. Perhaps ‘Zero’ would’ve been a better name.”

Carole Eastman

Valley Village

Analysis to sink your teeth into

Regarding the Michael Tolkin piece, a few years ago I spoke with him about doing a story on a mutual friend who had survived the Holocaust, of which he said, “Some stories are just too tragic to be told.” This one, “This Vampirism Is Made in America,” almost is, but thanks to his brilliant mind he’s given us a brutal no-holds-barred analysis of America that moves beyond the unhappy ending.

Charlotte Hildebrand

Los Angeles

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My goodness! How smart, how well written and provocative. Worthy of George Trow, as high a compliment as one can conjure.

Richard P. McDonough

Irvine

Too quick to close the decade

Please don’t tell me we have to suffer a rehash of the millennium kerfuffle just because it’s 2010! [“The Decade, in Review,” Dec. 20]. It’s really simple: Unless people count to 10 by starting at zero and ending at nine, the decade isn’t done yet!

You all can review the “decade” after Jan. 1, 2011. Stop spreading mathematical ignorance.

Jason Bostick

Carson

What’s in a political label

In one of the letters responding to your article on Bill Moyers [“Feedback,” Dec. 20], I was saddened to read how one of the readers defined “right wing.” In describing O’Reilly as “not right wing,” he defends his position by declaring O’Reilly “accepts gay marriage and believes in global warming.”

In my many years of study of modern conservative philosophy, nowhere is there any litmus test defining “right wing” as responding “correctly” to a simplistic list of wedge issues like gay marriage. The reason O’Reilly cannot be considered “right wing” is that he has no philosophy -- just a series of disjointed ramblings meant only to garner television ratings.

How sad to see what the state of political discourse has degenerated into.

Reed Harrel

Monrovia