Stephen King’s latest novels unconsciously reflect contemporary events, with kids imprisoned in detention centers.
Monthly Archives: September 2019
Stephen King and Detention Centers
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged detention centers, ICE, immigrants, Institute, Stephen King Comments closed
“Rhinoceros” and Trump’s GOP Takeover
Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros” brilliantly captures how creeping authoritarianism works. It’s only too relevant.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged conformity, Donald Trump, Eugene Ionesco, Fascism, GOP, Rhinoceros, Trumpism Comments closed
The Bible, As True as Literature
In “Inspired,” Rachel Held Evans demonstrates how the Bible is true because it functions as literature.
Read to Resist Trump & Trumpism
Literature provides those resisting Trump with a “no bullshit” zone, a safe space where they can center themselves.
Trump’s Catch-22 Doctoring of Maps
Thursday In case you haven’t heard the story, apparently someone in the Trump administration doctored a hurricane map to cover for the president’s fabricated assertion that Dorian posed a threat to Alabama. The incident reminded Politico’s Jeff Greenfield of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. The doctoring involved using a sharpie to extend the hurricane track (see picture […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Catch 22, Donald Trump, Hurricane Dorian, Joseph Heller Comments closed
Killer Claimed to Be Captain of His Soul
Wednesday Last week Radnor High School English teacher Carl Rosin reported on his students grappling with the use of Dylan Thomas by the Christchurch killer. The man also cited William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus, the subject of today’s essay. In addition to his use of another famous poem, what does it mean that this same poem […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Invictus", Christchurch massacre, Nelson Mandela, William Ernest Henley Comments closed
Homer, Anti-War Poet
Tuesday One of my most satisfying reads in recent years is Caroline Alexander’s The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer’s Iliad and The Trojan War. Alexander is the kind of writer that I aspire to be: an academic who taps into the meticulous research of other scholars to write for a popular […]
A Poem for Labor Day
Monday – Labor Day I can think of few poems that better capture the spirit of Labor Day than Daniel Pinsky’s “The Shirt.” I love how it moves seamlessly—I use the adverb deliberately—between the craft of labor and the conditions of labor. Sometimes we see a lovingly described piece of clothing, sometimes we hear about […]
