No one knows what really goes on in a marriage…
…writes
Continue reading →Category Archives: Literature and writing
Solving a decades-long science fiction mystery via the blog
Isn’t the internet wonderful? Through this blog, I recently got the answer to a question that’s been tormenting me for close to fifty years. Well, maybe not tormenting exactly. But I’ve long been troubled by my inability to identify a … Continue reading →
Tempus fugit: when you’re a Jet you stay a Jet
Indulging in one of my favorite pastimes, surfing on YouTube, recently led me to a clip of a 2007 rehearsal of a new production of the musical “West Side Story.” The sequence begins with the cast of the 2007 revival, … Continue reading →
Kindle bestsellers
[Hat tip: Althouse.] Here’s a list of the one hundred top Kindle books. Actually, you get two, two, two lists in one: the books for sale, and the books available for free. The Bible does well in both categories. And … Continue reading →
Tolstoi on Chekhov
[Hat tip: Ann Althouse.] Excerpt by Peter Gnedich, “Memories,” from The Book of Life (1922): Lev Tolstoy sincerely loved Chekhov, but did not like his plays. He told Chekhov once, “A playwright should take the theater-goer by the hand, and … Continue reading →
Send not to know for whom the bell tolls…
…it tolls for book publishers.
Continue reading →Graphic illustration of why the rise of photography…
…has coincided with a rise in the rate of depression. The ravages of time didn’t used to be so well-documented. Then again—there’s a genre of YouTube videos that feature the morphing of photos of the same person over a long … Continue reading →
Right on schedule…
…here come the “Christie’s too fat to be president” articles (here and here). From the latter: Unfortunately, the symbolism of Christie’s weight problem goes way past the issue of obesity itself. It is just a too-perfect symbol of our country … Continue reading →
On the EU folly
Shorter Daley on the EU: good fences make good neighbors. “Consensus” has become coercion. The imperatives of federalism and ever closer union have come bang up against the basic principle of democracy: that elected governments should be answerable to their … Continue reading →
Looking back at George W. Bush
A number of people have recommended this article by Walt Harrington about George W. Bush, whom the journalist first met back in the 80s and became friendly with. Those people are correct; it’s a fascinating read. Their friendship endured throughout … Continue reading →
Joe McGinniss finally…
…comes out with his book-length gossip sheet on temporary next-door-neighbor Sarah Palin, and even the NY Times can’t stomach it: McGinniss is “too busy being nasty to be lucid.” Ouch—although, of course, the two are hardly mutually exclusive. McGinniss is … Continue reading →
Aldous Huxley on Barack Obama
Well, not really. For one thing, the interview was conducted in 1958, before Obama was born. But maybe you’ll see what I mean if you watch some of it: As for Huxley, although I think Brave New World was a … Continue reading →