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Monthly Archives: October 2013
Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN: a Halloween Book Review…
It’s Shelley – and ideas – that scare us… Since I’ve been skylarking, having left the original 2013 reading list in the dust long ago (except for the Christmas selections) and now having left the extended reading list behind, too, it seemed like … Continue reading
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The Old Gods Laugh, Part 2: classic literature vs. public interest
In Part 1 of this discussion of contemporary reading habits, I sought to find some rationale for the domination of “fiction bestseller lists” (flawed as measurement of anything though those lists might be) by works that are, in one form or another, escapism. … Continue reading
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The Old Gods Laugh -Part 1: What We Don’t Know CAN Hurt Us….
This started mainly as an idle exercise. Each time I go to Goodreads, I am apprised of someone’s latest book which is, I am assured, a triumph of – well, some sort. Many of the books are #’s 3-4-5 in a … Continue reading
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Grandma Moses: The Artist as Celebrity…
Art books tend to be heavy duty critical affairs like the Arthur Danto work I reviewed earlier this year or large tomes full of beautiful reproductions of a master’s work that have the feel, despite their higher purpose, of coffee table books. The … Continue reading
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Pictures are worth how many words…?
I picked up a fascinating book at my favorite used book store recently. It’s by Michael Ochs, arguably rock music’s preeminent archivist (and, in case you are wondering, yes, he’s the great Phil Ochs’ brother and was his manager for the … Continue reading
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In Any Time: The Hemingway Style
I read and reviewed Hemingway’s final book, True at First Light, back in February. In that review I talked about the issues surrounding Hemingway as writer and Hemingway as media creation. One characteristic of the Culture of Media-Driven Celebrity – as we might arguably … Continue reading
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…In Which Maugham Tells the Dark Side (and Aleister Crowley) to Kiss His Bum…
Somerset Maugham again – this time, his “early” (1908) novel, The Magician. Maugham’s attempt at “paranormal romance,” as the young folks call it (and the heading under which book stores would/should stock it) is part good old fashioned British object lesson … Continue reading
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The Mountains (and marketing department) Win Again…
Robert Morgan’s Gap Creek is subtitled The Story of a Marriage. This latest entry from the extended 2013 reading list is certainly that. It is also an engaging depiction of an era, a life, and a region. There are two issues to talk … Continue reading
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Goo Goo Ga Joob…
I’ve wandered off the list again. A visit to a used bookstore over the weekend (always a dangerous idea for a book nut) ended with a new book joining the 2013 extended reading list. This is another in one of my … Continue reading
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