My book “Better Living through Lit” this past year was only one of several making the case that literature can be social dynamite.
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Tag Archives: Christopher Marlowe
Lit Packs a Powerful Punch
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, Ben Jonson, Better Living through Literature, book bans, Dangerous Fictions, Harold Bloom, Hesiod, Homer, Iliad, Lyta Gold, Odyssey, Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray, Plato, Toni Morrison, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Why Fiction Terrifies People
I announce my forthcoming book and contrast it with a similar book–“Dangerous Fictions”–coming out soon.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, Ben Jonson, Better Living through Literature, book bans, Dangerous Fictions, Harold Bloom, Hesiod, Homer, Iliad, Lyta Gold, Odyssey, Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray, Plato, Toni Morrison, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Trumpian Darkness or True Light? Choose
Trump and many of his fans twist themselves in the perpetual torment of their resentment and anger. Henry Vaughan describes their state in “The World.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "World", Dante, Doctor Faustus, Donald Trump, Henry Vaughan, Inferno, Trump trials Comments closed
A GOP Senator as Doctor Faustus
Mitt Romney has accused Sen. J.D. Vance for selling himself “so cheap.” Think of the “Hillbilly Elegy” author as Faustus.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Doctor Faustus, J.D. Vance, Mitt Romney, selling souls, U.S. Senate Comments closed
Hawthorne Explains the Eternal Sin
Hawthorne explores what Jesus means by the “eternal sin” in a number of stories, including “Scarlet Letter.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Altar", Doctor Faustus, eternal sin, Ethan Brand, George Herbert, Man of Adamant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter, Sin Comments closed
Who Gets to Be Called “Dr.”?
Alexandra Petri satirizes a dismissal of Jill Biden’s doctorate by imagining herself as Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged colleges and universities, Doctor Faustus, doctorate programs, Frankenstein, Jill Biden, Joseph Epstein, Mary Shelley, misogyny, Sexism Comments closed
Does Lit Lead to Illicit Sex?
Dante’s beautifully tragic account of Paolo and Francesca captures–as many great works do–the dangers of total absorption in a relationship.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Adultery, Charlotte Bronte, Dante, Doctor Faustus, Goethe, Inferno, Jane Eyre, Paolo and Francesca, passionate love, Romeo and Juliet, Samuel Johnson, Sorrows of Young Werther, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Better Living through Virgil
When lost in deep depression, Dante turns to his favorite author, Virgil, to help him out.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aeneid, Dante, Divine Comedy, Doctor Faustus, Virgil Comments closed