Recommendations you can check.
Writer and academic; author of The Cult of Smart and How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, and of a daily newsletter on politics, education and culture.
9 things
NeuromancerBook William Gibson
Neuromancer is a book I love without reservation and have loved for a long time, and not only has it never been successfully adapted
Announcement of his newsletter's Neuromancer book club, with an appreciation of the novel and worries about the Apple TV adaptation.
2026-07-27·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
Inherent ViceOther Paul Thomas Anderson
Which brings me to the film adaptation of Inherent Vice, that widely-disliked, subtly-championed shaggy stoner LA noir that confused critics and rankled fans and also happens to be the best movie Paul Thomas Anderson has ever made.
Essay arguing that Inherent Vice is Paul Thomas Anderson's best film, ranging over his other favourite and least favourite films.
2026-01-29·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
Raising ArizonaOther Coen Brothers
the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona, which is, I will argue without apology, the greatest film they ever made.
Essay arguing that Inherent Vice is Paul Thomas Anderson's best film, ranging over his other favourite and least favourite films.
2026-01-29·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
AmourOther Michael Haneke
If I was put on the spot to name the greatest movie of the 21st century, I would probably say Michael Hanneke's Amour, an achingly moving, relentlessly unpleasant portrait of an elderly couple sinking into illness and senescence, forced into making the grimmest decisions possible.
Essay arguing that Inherent Vice is Paul Thomas Anderson's best film, ranging over his other favourite and least favourite films.
2026-01-29·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
RanOther Akira Kurosawa
Gun to my head, I might very well choose Akira Kurosawa's Ran for the best film of the 20th.
Essay arguing that Inherent Vice is Paul Thomas Anderson's best film, ranging over his other favourite and least favourite films.
2026-01-29·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
A Ribbon For Your HairBook Stephen Policoff
There's too much yearning in the book, too much dark humor, and too much of a characteristic attempt to keep finding some thread to follow through all the sadness. This book is mournful but not bleak.
Review of Stephen Policoff's memoir; he opens by disclosing that Policoff was his father's closest friend and that he knows the family.
2026-03-27·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
Dangerous BluesBook Stephen Policoff
Policoff has written three novels, including 2022's Dangerous Blues, a book I really enjoyed and reviewed positively here.
Review of Stephen Policoff's memoir; he opens by disclosing that Policoff was his father's closest friend and that he knows the family.
2026-03-27·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
Burning ChromeBook William Gibson
He'd already coined "cyberspace" in a 1982 short story, "Burning Chrome," which was later included in his excellent collection of the same name. (I have recommended people read "New Rose Hotel" from that collection more times than any other short story, I'd wager.)
Announcement of his newsletter's Neuromancer book club, with an appreciation of the novel and worries about the Apple TV adaptation.
2026-07-27·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
No Country for Old MenOther Coen Brothers
The Coens are typically considered to be at their best when they're cruel diagnosticians of American life - see their portentous, overstuffed, painfully self-impressed No Country for Old Men
Essay arguing that Inherent Vice is Paul Thomas Anderson's best film, ranging over his other favourite and least favourite films.
2026-01-29·freddiedeboer.substack.com ↗
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The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
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