Continuing with the favorite literature of our presidents, here is Eisenhower through Obama.
Monthly Archives: November 2016
The Grand Inquisitor Was Right
To understand Donald Trump’s stunning victory, turn to Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor. The lure of an authoritarian leader and the challenges of a pluralistic and multicultural society can be found in Ivan Karamazov’s parable.
Lit Produces Good Voters
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that reading literature, and reading it critically, prepares one to be a good citizen who can vote responsibly.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged citizenship, Liberal Arts, Martha Nussbaum, Ralph Ellison, voting Comments closed
Looking Back: Trump & Clinton in Lit
I look back at all the literary comparisons I’ve made for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the past year and bring you the list.
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Shakespeare Understood Trumpism
According to Adam Gopnik, Shakespeare would have understood the rise of Donald Trump better than we do today. Whereas we see him as a historical oddity, Shakespeare would have seen him as the kind of evil that has always resided within humankind.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 2016 presidential election, Adam Gopnik, As You Like It, Donald Trump, Hamlet, Henry V, Hillary Clinton, King Lear, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Trump, Murakami, and Our Dark Selves
Donald Trump’s ability to tap into a deep American rage is the source of his power. In “Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,” Haruki Murakami, seeking to understand the resurgence of rightwing Japanese nationalism, has a Trump-like character who accesses a slimy substance within modern Japan.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Harumki Murakami, neo-fascism, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Comments closed
Favorite Lit of Our Presidents
What was the favorite literature of the American presidents? I look at works that drew them (up through Franklin Roosevelt–the rest will follow tomorrow) and speculate on why.
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