Pronouns — as well as other linguistic tidbits — continue to be an issue far beyond what one might expect. Linguist Dennis Baron continues to be the primary authority on the topic of pronouns, and only partly because of their… Read More ›
Books
Sigh, Gone
A coming-of-age memoir by a Vietnamese refugee. That’s a flat, factual description of this powerful book. It doesn’t capture much of what it is like. The full title — Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the… Read More ›
The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil And Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly And Serenity
Don’t go away! OK, a reasonable response to this book title might be “How geeky can you get‽” I mean, the pop-culture-plus-intellectual combo inherent in The Existential Joss Whedon: Evil And Human Freedom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly… Read More ›
The Just City: science fiction and Plato
I am overwhelmed! By unanimous consent, Jo Walton’s The Just City has now been added to my top-ten books list (which already had 12 books on it). There was no doubt about it. In a sense, this book is science fiction…. Read More ›
“How to Read 50 Books in a Year (Even When You’re Busy)”
As we discussed a few days ago, a Pew poll showed that Americans don’t read very much. More specifically, it’s non-college-educated adults don’t read many books, but also reading in general is way down — reading of almost all types… Read More ›
How many books have you read this year?
According to Pew, the average adult reads — wait! median adult or mean adult?— OK, the median adult reads 12 books per year, whereas the mean is only 4. Ponder that discrepancy for a minute! We all know — though… Read More ›
Performances? Performances!
A published book is a performance. A translation is a performance. Actually, I never used to think of either of them that way, but John Talbot and James Harbeck have convinced me. In JT’s case it was an oral conversation… Read More ›
It can’t happen here.
In 1964, when Barry Goldwater was running for president, Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here came to my attention, so I promptly checked a copy out of the library and read it right away. In case you’ve never heard of… Read More ›
Move to Strike
Partly a courtroom drama, partly a mystery, partly a suspense thriller, this novel by Perri O’Shaughnessy (a pseudonym for sisters Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy) is a great choice when you’re stuck at home, as most of us are right now…. Read More ›
Ἅρειος Ποτῆρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Φιλοσόφου Λίθος
No cheating now: Based on the Greek letters that you’ve learned from math and science, can you figure out what the title of this post says? If you can’t figure out any complete words, try sounding them out. There are… Read More ›
Culling the herd (the herd of books, that is)
There’s no such thing as too many books. Well, maybe there is. I wrote about this problem in a blog post five months ago — at this point it feels like five years, of course — when I resolved to do something… Read More ›
What are your favorite poems?
What are your favorite poems? Is an epic poem too long to count as an answer to this question? I hope not — but I’ll play it safe and split the difference. My favorite pair of poems are… drumroll, please…… Read More ›
Freedom City
So Donald Trump dies from an apparent heart attack after taking hydroxychloroquine, and President Pence calls on far-right militias to enforce a “Make America Great Again” fascist-style government. OK, it’s fiction. More or less. My opening sentence is not quite… Read More ›
The Mechanic
I should have known. Months ago, back on May 4th — OK, OK, I know that it was really just two weeks ago, but it feels like months — I was watching Greater Boston on Channel 2, as one does, and Jim Braude was… Read More ›
The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe
Let’s see a show of hands: how many of you know who Nero Wolfe was? OK, fellow boomers, you can put your hands down now. We are the generation that knows Rex Stout. For the rest of you, I’ll tell… Read More ›
Apart-ment
You will want to read a longish poem just published by my favorite Canadian linguist, James Harbeck. Before then, note what he has to say about words: Words are delicious and intoxicating. They do much more than just denote; they have appearance,… Read More ›
Maxine Unleashes Doomsday
How could I resist a novel with a title like Maxine Unleashes Doomsday? The genre of this story, as you expect, is near-future post-apocalyptic science fiction — more or less. Apparently it was inspired by The Road Warrior, but I’ve never seen… Read More ›
Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother
Picture this: You’re Barry Sonnenfeld, a high-school junior, on a date with a classmate at a Madison Square Garden “Woodstock Reunion” concert. And just as Jimi Hendrix is about to come on, you hear an announcement over the loudspeaker: ”Barry… Read More ›
The Panda of Death
“Three murders? For a cozy? Isn’t that a lot?” Yes, three murders in one cozy. I guess that’s a lot. This self-referential quote is from Betty Webb’s latest, The Panda of Death. And yes, it’s a cozy, but I read it anyway,… Read More ›
A Very Stable Genius
As you know, the U.S. is currently being led by “a very stable genius,” as our dear leader calls himself. I finally finished reading A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, written by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 