A while back we had a discussion of popular and/or highly-thought-of books of the past that we’ve never heard of, and that don’t seem all that great if we try to tackle them now. Well, I recently came across The … Continue reading →
Joyce Carol Oates has been writing short stories and novels ever since the early 1960s. As a writer, she reminds me of Meryl Streep as an actress—that is, skillful, highly praised, prolific, versatile, and not especially appealing (to me, anyway). … Continue reading →
I’ve already said that I wasn’t going to watch Ken Burns’ documentary on Vietnam, and why. But of course lots of other people have watched it. Here’s a report from Powerline’s Scott Johnson: Watching the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary history … Continue reading →
It began with a seemingly-innocuous gift: To celebrate “National Read a Book Day,” the first lady [Melania Trump] had sent out a collection of 10 Dr. Seuss books to one school in each state across the nation. The titles included: … Continue reading →
Almost two weeks ago Jerry Brown came up with this lovely gibe: “You should check out the derivation of ”˜Trump-ite’ and ”˜troglodyte,’ because they both refer to people who dwell in deep, dark caves.” And I say Brown’s supporters are … Continue reading →
Molly Worthen has written an article in the the NY Times recommending the memorization of poetry: Since ancient times, humans have memorized and recited poetry. Before the invention of writing, the only way to possess a poem was to memorize … Continue reading →
William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection has this to say (the whole post is worth reading): That truth that both sides [in Charlottesville] were violent doesn’t mean both sides were equal. But the denial of the truth that both sides were … Continue reading →
On Monday, August 21, 2017, America will witness one of nature’s grandest spectacles. The “Great American Eclipse,” as it is being called, will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States since 1979, when a massive … Continue reading →
I think you’ll see why. It’s from the Czech author Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, which he wrote in the late 1970s: Circle dancing is magic. It speaks to us through the millennia from the depths of … Continue reading →
I stopped to eat my sandwich at a rest stop on the western Massachusetts Turnpike one recent weekend. It was a lovely day and the Berkshires a fine place for my little picnic, although I didn’t have time to leave … Continue reading →
Commenter “Stan McQueen” wrote on the Conrad Aiken thread: I was especially touched by the inscription of “Cosmos Mariner-Destination Unknown” on his tombstone, which is in the shape of a bench.. He saw a ship by that name and looked … Continue reading →
Sometimes random associations lead to a post. Earlier today I wrote about a story that’s big in the news: the legal, medical, ethical, and human issues involved in the case of Charlie Gard. While writing it, I noticed that the … Continue reading →