For an upcoming talk on growing up in Sewanee TN, I have been rummaging through old scrapbooks. A D. H. Lawrence poem captures some of the emotions I’m experiencing.
Monthly Archives: March 2025
Caught Up in a Flood of Remembrance
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Childhood, D. H. Lawrence, Nostalgia, Piano, Sewanee TN Comments closed
Percy Shelley’s Cry for Freedom
“England in 1819,” written to protest George III and the Peterloo Massacre, sounds all too relevant today.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "England in 1819", cry for freedom, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Percy Shelley, public corruption, Trumpism Comments closed
A Mary Oliver Poem for Lent
Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” works as a Lenten poem but departs from medieval notions of what Lent involves.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Wild Geese", "For Lent 1966", Lent, Madeleine L'Engle, Mary Oliver, Nature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Comments closed
Middlemarch and Trump vs. Expertise
Incompetence wins out over expertise in Eliot’s “Middlemarch.” And so it is proving to be the case in the Trump administration.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Covid, cronyism, George Eliot, medical expertise, Middlemarch Comments closed
Beowulf’s Advice for Battling Depression
Beowulf’s advice for battling dragon depression: don’t go it alone, which itself is a dragon trait.
Böll on Desperately Clinging to the Past
Heinrich Böll’s “Christmas Not Just Once a Year” captures the yearning to return to the past that animates many Trump supporters.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Christmas, Christmas Not Just Once a Year, Heinrich Böll, Nostalgia, Trumpism Comments closed
What Musk’s Favorite Books Reveal
In which I examine Musk’s favorite books to figure out what they reveal: Foundation Trilogy, Stranger in a Strange Land, Hitchhiker’s Guide, Atlas Shrugged, Waiting for Godot, and Lord of the Rings.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Any Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Elon Musk, Foundation Trilogy, Golden age of science fiction, Isaac Asimov, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joseph Heller, Lord of the Rings, Robert Heinlein, Samuel Beckett, Stranger in a Strange Land, Waiting for Godot Comments closed
Trump as Putin’s Luca Brasi
The GOP’s switch from anti- to pro-Russia is like switching from Eurasia to Eastasia in “1984.” But rather than resembling mob boss Don Corleone in the scenario, Trump is more like Putin’s Luca Brasi.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Godfather, J.D. Vance, Lindsey Graham, Mario Puzo, mob boss politics, Russo-Ukraine War, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Comments closed
Erdrich, Snakes, and the Transfiguration
Erdrich’s “Sermon to the Snakes” in “Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse” probes the question of whether God’s love drives the universe.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged " Transfiguration, Catholicism, God's love, Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich, Ojibwe Nation, snakes Comments closed
