Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump, for which she is attacking him, has precedents in Chaucer, John Gay, and Wilde. Stephens’s poem “The Shell,” meanwhile, captures the travesty of the DoJ vs. Comey.
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Monthly Archives: April 2026
To Battle Reactionaries, Read the Classics
A David Brooks article argues that we should be teaching humanism to counteract the rise of reactionary forces.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bible, David Brooks, Traditionalists vs. Progressives Comments closed
Will No One Rid Me of This Meddlesome Pope?
Trump’s attacks on Leo resemble Henry VIII vs. Thomas More and Henry II vs. Thomas Becket. Works like Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, Bolt’s Man for All Seasons, and Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral explore these dramas.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bring Up the Bodies, Donald Trump, Henry II, Henry VIII, Hilary Mantel, J.D. Vance, Man for All Seasons, Murder in the Cathedral, Pope Leo, Robert Bolt, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Becket, Thomas More, Wolf Hall Comments closed
Is the Wind-Up Bird a Woodpecker?
Murakami’s wind-up bird is never identified but it has certain things in common with the pileated woodpecker.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Fascism, Haruki Murakami, pileated woodpecker, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Comments closed
Chaucer’s Life-Affirming Christianity
British Christianity has always had a strong connection with nature. Chaucer taps into this tradition in the opening lines of Canterbury Tales.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Canterbury Tales, Cult of Ēostre, Easter, fertility religions, Geoffrey Chaucer Comments closed
Making Lit Meaningful for Students
In my latest “A Life Lived in Literature,” I explore how I invited students to explore their own issues through the works assigned in the course.
Bezos and the Diamond as Big as the Ritz
To understand the ultra wealthy, read a recent Atlantic article on Jeff Bezos. And then read Fitzgerald’s “A Diamond as Big as the Ritz.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Diamond as Big as the Ritz, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jeff Bezos, Rich Boy, Snows of Kilimanjaro, super wealthy Comments closed
Earth Day: Mary Oliver Notices
A Mary Oliver poem for Earth Day: “Ghosts” looks back at the large buffalo herds and forward to what it will take to restore nature.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged buffalo, Earth Day, ghosts, Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich, Mary Oliver, Mighty Red Comments closed
Listen Carefully, the Books Are Whispering
A Charles Simic poem celebrating the magic of libraries.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "World is too much with us", Charles Simic, Geoffrey Chaucer, libraries, Wife of Bath, William Wordsworth Comments closed