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A Taste of Literary Genius - The James Joyce Factor

James Joyce is one of those unforgettable figures in literary history. He was everything and he was nothing. He was Ireland to the core, but he was exiled from his...

Book Venture Through Fresh Literature...

September is "Read-A-New-Book Month." What is it about reading a new book? The pages are crisp and un-crumpled. The spine is stiff and unyielding. The book cover isn't scarred by...

Expectations is a place...

Number and words and whatever comes in between...The Phantom Tollbooth is a modern fairy tale--famous for its wordplay and witty interplay. Instead of a wardrobe or a looking glass, young...

What is it like -- to be a great book?

Alex Haley was born on August 11, 1921. And, he was to go on in acclaim as the writer of scripts and novels. He's most famous for Roots, which was...

As August Nears...

It's been a sweltering hot day, but now the lights o the city are spread out before me--from this 6th-story window... And, August is just a few days away. What...

Stormy Day Writings...

All day, the rain has been coming by fits and starts--sprinkles now, then a bit more of a shower, then less. I yearn for the moisture--it seems to engulf me....

Negotiating the Stacks...

I'm always a bit troubled by my strange fascination with the whole discussion about ebooks and my old favorite standby books. On the one hand, I love technology. I get excited...

When Reading Isn't Easy... GREAT Literature and the Art of Re-Reading...

On September 22, 1963, T.S. Eliot wrote to the New York Post, saying: "When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be...

Grow Old & Wise, or Just Old?

How does dying affect art: literature and music? In this collection of essays, Edward Said explores the last works of writers and musicians, including Thomas Mann, Constantine P. Cavafy, and Samuel...

Romantic Types (Readers)... Looking for Romance, Are You?

Summer is the time of weddings, and the season for nuptials is well underway. While you're preparing for your own wedding, watching someone you know walk down the aisle, or...

Universal Focus in Literature?

There's something to be said for creating a work of literature that can stand the test of time. Many writers of today go to great (and painstaking) lengths in the...

Blinded...

He murdered his father and married his mother. He tried to escape the fate that had been foretold for him. Instead of avoiding the horror, he walked right into it. In...

Staged Controversy

Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen, first appeared on the London stage in 1891. Although not as famous as A Doll's House or Hedda Gabler, the play is known for its controversial...

Making Tracks... or Remembering Characters?

Whether you're reading a novel for a literature class, or enjoying a book on the beach, characters are the vehicles that often help to drive the plot. They make you...

Lost in the Sea...

The Awakening is the famous (and very controversial) novel by Kate Chopin. Edna is the protagonist of the work. We see her life, her relationship with her husband and children,...

Give me your tired, your poor

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) arrived in New York harbor on June 17, 1885. The great lady of liberty was a gift to the U.S. from France....

A Book for Dad?

It may seem that buying a book for your father is the easiest gift, but which book do you pick? What would he enjoy? And what would he really read?...

Read the Summer's Heat Away...

Everywhere I turn, people are talking about the summer heat. It's June already. It's the week before Father's Day. The sky is the perfect shade of blue today--without a cloud...

Not a GREAT Man...

Death of a Salesman is the everyman drama about an American failure, but the work was an instant success when it was first staged. The play is an attack on...

Take Note of the Days... and Reading

Summer is a great time to start a reading journal. You can start keeping track of the books you're reading, why you chose the book, what you thought of it,...

Inevitable Fate?

Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898. He would later be in the unique position to write his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, after...

Watching, Silently Weeping

Have you ever ventured out to the beach at night? Have you watched the waves, as you felt the sand squitch-squish between your bare toes? In On the Beach at...

Perfect Endings for May?

Yes, May is drawing to a close. May Day, Mother's Day, and even Memorial Day--all the holidays of May have come and gone... (Even my birthday has come and gone...

A Wretched Man - Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was once vibrant and full of life, but the trial and his subsequent imprisonment destroyed him--mentally and physically. On May 19, 1897, Wilde was released from jail. He...

The Draw of Reading... Why would one resist?

Some of the most memorable events in my life have involved being caught reading a book. Not that reading a book is ever a bad thing... Reading can be such...

Characters Drawn... Life to Fiction?

Mark Twain is famously associated with the grand Mississippi, as a riverboat pilot and writer. On May 12, 1883, Life on the Mississippi was first published, in all its unforgettable...

Glad to Be Alive

Anne of Green Gables is a novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The story centers around Anne Shirley, a red-head orphan, with a wild imagination and a talent for getting into...

What is bibliomania?

Are you addicted to books? You may go to any lengths to find a particular book. Bibliomania is "a gentle madness," a joy that's been enjoyed by bibliomanics, bookworms, book...

The Moon--Like a Strange, Foreign Thing

I remember when I first read E.M. Forster's A Passage to India. I'd heard for such a long time that the book was marvelous, descriptive, unforgettable... but I don't think...

Travel Toward the Dark Places...

A 2007 Time poll places Madame Bovary at the forefront of classic novels in world literature (along with Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. And, it's no wonder. The novel offers something...

 

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