The latest installment in my memoir – negotiating our crazy-busy life in our over-extended forties.
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Minneapolis and Measure for Measure
Trump’s corrupt offer to Minnesota—give up your voting records and we’ll withdraw ICE—brings to mind Angelo’s corrupt offer in “Measure for Measure.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, ICE, Measure for Measure, Pam Bondi, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
J.D. Vance as Andrew Aguecheek
Think of J.D. Vance as Sir Andrew Aguecheek from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged ICE killings, J.D. Vance, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
Seeing the World as Your Plaything
A passage from William Cowper’s “The Task”—about self-indulgent princes—captures America’s current president.
A Historical Poem to Mourn Good, Pretti
ICE’s murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti bring to mind the judicial murder of Irish activist William Orr in 1797, We can use a poem in his honor to honor them.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged “Wake of William Orr", Alex Pretti, ICE killings, Nicole Renee Good, William Drennan Comments closed
I Will Make You Fish for People
Herman Sutter’s “Peter Returns to His Nets” imagines Peter attempting to return to his old, familiar life—and realizing that he can’t.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged “Peter Returns to His Nets", "St. Peter", Herman Sutter Comments closed
Teaching and Reading in Yugoslavia
The latest installment in my on-going memoir: a Fulbright year in Yugoslavia.
Peter Thiel, Palantir, and Sauron
In May, 2025 former Palantir employees warned that the company was becoming a Sauron-esque force for evil—in essence, resembling the crystal stone after which it was named.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Palantir, Peter Thiel, power corrupts, Terry Pratchett Comments closed
Beyond Close Reading: A Discussion
According to Johanna Winant, close reading is having a moment. I discuss what close reading a literary text means to me.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beowulf, close reading, Johanna Winant, John Stuart Mill, New Criticism Comments closed