I try my best to pay attention to grammar and spelling, helped out by the always-handy Spellcheck (shh–don’t tell anyone, but I’m not the world’s best speller, unaided). But as Harriet Miers before me discovered, no doubt to her chagrin, … Continue reading →
I think he should have been a blogger. Oh, I don’t mean he shouldn’t have written his novels. I’m referring only to the last year or two of his life, when he became very politically active as a result of … Continue reading →
I’ve referred to the swirl of criticism around the Miers nomination as a “feeding frenzy” a number of times (for example, here). Like many other metaphors, it’s become less colorful through overuse: “feeding frenzy” has come to be a sort … Continue reading →
I recently made the acquaintance of yargb, yet another really great blog. That is, Yet Another Really Great Blog. It’s a group blog (which makes me a bit envious, since it means each blogger can take it easy sometimes) composed … Continue reading →
Some of you who’ve read this blog for a while may recall that I like poetry, and that as a child my school assignments included memorizing a lot of poetry. And so it is that often when I’m thinking about … Continue reading →
First off, I must confess that I like his early plays–or at least I did when I saw them, many moons ago. “The Birthday Party” was especially fine, as I recall, and I enjoyed the original Broadway production of “The … Continue reading →
When I read the first paragraph or two of this article (via Norm Geras), I thought perhaps it was from the Onion. The King of Swaziland, banning sex thoughout the realm? A ceremony of dancing girls, burning the tassels that … Continue reading →
Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has posted a very personal and utterly heartrending essay on the loss of her daughter. It’s couched as a letter to Cindy Sheehan from one child-bereaved mother to another, and demonstrates great compassion. I urge … Continue reading →
Who is this woman? The serene young artist, glowing with life: The worn-out older woman, lines of age etched deeper by profound grief: She’s Kathe Kollwitz, one of the greatest graphic artists of all time, in two of her extraordinary … Continue reading →
I’ve mentioned quite a few times that I’m a long-time reader of the New Yorker. That’s “long-time” as in long-time—my estimate is close to forty years or so. I still get the magazine delivered to my home, and I still … Continue reading →
A lot of people think George Orwell is special. I’m one of them. I first read Orwell’s books Animal Farm and 1984 when I was about twelve years old. The latter was good for many nightmares–I don’t recommend giving the … Continue reading →
There are certain authors I keep coming back to. One of them is Milan Kundera, whom I first read and loved about twenty-five years ago, but whose works, on rereading, seem even more loaded with political and philosophical insight than … Continue reading →