Monthly Archives: November 2018

In Praise of Literary Biography

I share a discussion I had with John Stubbs, author of riveting biographies on Swift, Donne, and the cavalier poets.

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Read to Resist: An Introduction

Thursday I share today the introduction to my upcoming book, which is still in draft form and whose title I keep changing. Latest title: Read to Resist: Classic Lit Provides Tools for Battling Trump and Trumpism. I’m still not entirely satisfied with that and so will keep tinkering. In any event, here’s my first attempt […]

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Lettuce, E. Coli, and Deregulation

Trump’s FDA put a hold on FDA regulations designed to prevent E. coli and the result has been another outbreak. Calling Upton Sinclair.

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America’s Dark Fairy Tale

Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time” is about a wall to keep out perceived dangers that turns into a nightmare. As such, it works as a parable about Trump’s wall.

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By Donne Logic, Chess Refined, Not Dull

While the 2018 chess championship is proving disappointing to some, Donne helps us see it as the experts do.

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The Only Lasting Treasure, Truth

William Cowper’s meditations on Truth in “The Task” dramatize Jesus’s words on the subject.

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Who Determines What a Work Means?

I share a copy of a talk I gave on how literary interpretations are decided, focusing on theorists Stanley Fish and Hans Robert Jauss.

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At This Table, We Give Thanks

Joy Harjo takes us to her kitchen table in a poem that, while giving thanks, complicates Thanksgiving by facing up to the bad as well as the good.

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Teaching Lit in Ljubljana

I share my experiences teaching Shakespeare and post-colonial literature in Slovenia.

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