Alberto Manguel’s The Library at Night is an unusual combination of fact and reflection, probing the nature and meaning of libraries.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Fight the Power, Check Out a Book
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alberto Manguel, libraries, Library at Night, oppression Comments closed
Leadership 101: Grade Obama
Andrew Sullivan says that we should not look for a savior in gay rights issues because, in America, “we save ourselves.” The sentiment also appears in a Lucille Clifton poem that appeared following the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "meeting after the savior gone", gay right, Lucille Clifton, Same Sex Marriage Comments closed
The Round Jubilance of Peach
Sink your teeth into Lee Young-Li’s poem about peaches and let it carry you into a sensation that is so deep that it banishes death.
The Vital Importance of Being Gay
It is possible to read a gay subtext into Oscar Wilde’s “Importance of Being Earnest.” For one thing, “Earnest” was slang for homosexual in late 19th century England, and a collection of homosexual verse entitled “Love in Earnest” was written by an Oxford classmate of Wilde.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged homosexuality, Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde Comments closed
When God Doesn’t Seem to Be Listening
George Herbert’s frustrations at not communicating with God are understandable because the words we use to pray will always feel inadequate. Rather than this being bad, however, we should learn to be humble. It is good that we feel wounded by our words because it is in our brokenness where we most feel God’s presence.
Golf Suddenly Seems Green Again
Something happened in the course of the recent U. S. Open tournament. Lucille Clifton’s poem is about the “damn wonder” of renewal, and golf is catching a whiff of something fresh in the boy-faced Rory McIlroy.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "there is a girl inside", Golf, Lucille Clifton, Robert Coover, Rory McIlroy, Sports, Universal Baseball Association Comments closed
An All American Family, with a Twist
“The Kids Are All Right” strikes a blow for traditional family values within a same sex marriage.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Family, Kids Are All Right, Lesbians, Same Sex Marriage Comments closed
Chaucer Predicted Hugh Hefner Debacle
It sounds to me that Hefner wasn’t cuckolded only because he wasn’t yet a husband. And while I don’t really care about either of them, I take a Chaucerian satisfaction is seeing a pretentious man outplayed at his own game.
At 60, a Comfortable Old Scarecrow
Having just turned 60, I’ve been thinking of Teiresias. Wise though the blind seer may be, his advice doesn’t help others that much. Aging, in other words, appears to require humility.
