Monthly Archives: July 2020

Vote for the Best Lizard

By Robin Bates | Published: July 30, 2020

Using lizards, Douglas Adams makes a memorable case for voting for the lesser to two evils.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged COVID-19, Douglas Adams, politics, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish | Comments closed

Trump-Graham as Dracula-Renfield

By Robin Bates | Published: July 29, 2020

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham is to Trump what Renfield is to Dracula–and could suffer a similar fate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bram Stoker, Donald Trump, Dracula, GOP, Lindsey Graham | Comments closed

Learning to Feel the Sea

By Robin Bates | Published: July 28, 2020

Jennifer Michael’s luminescent poem “Opening the Hand” describes how she first experienced the power of the sea.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Opening the Hand", beach vacation, Children, Jennifer Davis Michael | Comments closed

Read to Grapple with Climate Change

By Robin Bates | Published: July 27, 2020

Sian Cain uses literature to grapple with her decision, in light of climate change, not to have children.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Afterland, Amina Cain, Amitav Ghosh, Avni Doshi, Barbara Pym, burnt Sugar, childbearing, Children, Children of Men, cli-fi, climate change, climate fiction, Cormac McCarthy, Cygnet, D. H. Lawrence, David Wallace-Wells, Doris Lessing, Drowned World, Elena Ferrante, Fleishmann Is in Trouble, Future Home of the Living God, Indelicacy, J.G. Ballard, Jenny Offill, Lauren Beukes, Louise Erdrich, Lydia Millet, Margaret Atwood, Mark OConnell, Melissa Broder, Notes from an Apocalypse, Ottessa Moshfegh, Overstory, P.D. James, Pisces, Rachel Cusk, Richard Powers, Road Not Taken, Season Butler, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Uninhabitable Earth, weather, When It Happens, Year of Rest and Relaxation | Comments closed

Langston Hughes on Evictions

By Robin Bates | Published: July 26, 2020

When potentially 23 million American renters facing eviction, Langston Hughes’s “Ballad of a Landlord” feels timely.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Ballad of a Landlord", Donald Trump, evictions, housing policy, Langston Hughes | Comments closed

I Have Seen the Sun Break Through

By Robin Bates | Published: July 25, 2020

R.S Thomas has a fine poem drawing on Jesus’s images of spiritual exploration as a pearl of great price and a field with buried treasure.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Bright Field", pearl of great price, R S Thomas | Comments closed

Trump’s Troops Have No Stinkin’ Badges

By Robin Bates | Published: July 23, 2020

Trump’s special federal troops claims they need not wear identifying badges, bringing to mind the most famous line from the novel (and film) “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged B Traven, Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump, International Customs and Border Enforcement, Portland Oregon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre | Comments closed

Circle of Reason Villain Resembles Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: July 22, 2020

Amitav Ghosh’s novel “Circle of Reason” features a wannabe autocrat who has an eerie resemblance to Donald Trump.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amitav Ghosh, autocrats, Circle of Reason, Donald Trump | Comments closed

The Tomato Sheds Its Own Light

By Robin Bates | Published: July 21, 2020

Neruda’s “Ode to Tomatoes” is a perfect poem for midsummer.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Ode to Tomatoes", Pablo Neruda, tomatoes | Comments closed