Monthly Archives: March 2019

Onward He Came, & April Was His Name

By Robin Bates | Published: March 31, 2019

Monday – April Fools Day For reasons I can’t explain, 18th century Britain was into April Fools Day. Jonathan Swift in particular loved the occasion and produced some of the great literary pranks in history. (See the links below.) Today, however, I present the work of one William Combe, who in 1777 wrote The First […]

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What Drives You to Go Forth?

By Robin Bates | Published: March 30, 2019

Spiritual Sunday The prodigal son is one of Jesus’s most challenging parables. I once read about a rightwing Christian arguing that Jesus had it all wrong since the story’s outcome violated her views about who deserves to be helped, whether by God or the government. Writers have had their own interesting takes. Andre Gide, tormented […]

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A Long Day’s Journey into Mystery

By Robin Bates | Published: March 28, 2019

Friday I write today about a wonderful collection of mysterious poems by Xavier English professor Norman Finkelstein. Full disclosure requires me to state that Norman was my best friend when we were getting our doctorates at Emory University while honesty prompts me to add that large swatches of Norman’s poetry have always eluded me. Writing […]

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Taking America for a Wild Ride

By Robin Bates | Published: March 27, 2019

I received an e-mail from reader Donna Raskin about how D. H Lawrence’s harrowing short story “the Rocking Horse Winner” reminds her of Donald Trump, and I instantly saw the connection. The story seems even more relevant with the recent publication of Vicky Ward’s Kushner, Inc.: Greed Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner […]

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Kafka Explains Barr’s Mueller Report

By Robin Bates | Published: March 26, 2019

Wednesday In Monday’s essay I suggested Kafka could help Americans negotiate the apparent bad news they are getting from Attorney General William Barr’s summation of the Mueller Report. While (according to Barr) the report did not exonerate the Trump campaign for covering up its relations with Russia when it interfered in the 2016 election, it […]

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Good Advice from the Late W.S. Merwin

By Robin Bates | Published: March 25, 2019

Tuesday I’ve been dilatory in acknowledging the death of W. S. Merwin two weeks ago, but I share today a poem he wrote that offers some good life advice. Although it’s writing advice he received from poet John Berryman when he was young, it extends beyond poetry. As I apply the poem to my own […]

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Which Narrative Fits Mueller’s Report?

By Robin Bates | Published: March 24, 2019

Monday Two weeks ago I had an interesting interchange with reader Josh Grumet about which narrative would emerge once Robert Mueller submitted his report. While I said that liberals and NeverTrumpers were rooting for a Sherlock Holmes  ending, I feared we would end up with a Samuel Beckett non-conclusion. Josh, meanwhile, compared Trump supporters to […]

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Light beyond Sun and Words

By Robin Bates | Published: March 23, 2019

Spiritual Sunday Tomorrow being the Annunciation–Christians believe the Holy Spirit visited Mary nine months before December 25–I share a series of poems on the subject by Lucille Clifton, that most motherly of poets. In “a song of mary,” Clifton captures the ordinariness of Mary’s life before Jesus, even as there are princes “sitting on thrones […]

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Pete Buttigieg on the Liffey

By Robin Bates | Published: March 21, 2019

Friday If any of the Democratic presidential candidates want space on this blog before the first debate in June (I hear them clamoring now), they must mention literature. I wrote about Sherrod Brown when I discovered his love for Tolstoy (although he ultimately chose not to run), and now Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg gets a […]

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