Tag Archives: Moby Dick

Surprised by the Joy of Reading

By Robin Bates | Published: November 11, 2025

In a satiric essay, a fictional writer begins by reading to impress and ends by loving to read.

By Robin Bates | Published: December 31, 2024

How to survive Trumpism’s anticipated assaults on democracy? Reading Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a good place to start.

By Robin Bates | Published: September 26, 2024

Voting as a liberal in a red state can feel like Alice attempting to advance in a looking-glass world.

By Robin Bates | Published: April 8, 2024

How to withstand Trump’s incessant assaults on democracy? Be like Lizzie in “Goblin Market.”

By Robin Bates | Published: February 13, 2024

Crane’s poem “Forgetfulness” captures the ambiguity of this mental state.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 29, 2023

Orca boat attacks are causing me to rethink “Moby Dick.”

By Robin Bates | Published: March 19, 2023

Ukraine longs for its kidnapped children as the Rachel captain in “Moby Dick” longs for his son, lost at sea.

By Robin Bates | Published: January 23, 2023

Cameron’s “Avatar 2” owes a large debt to “Moby Dick.”

By Robin Bates | Published: December 20, 2022

In “Desert Places,” Frost finds despair in a handful of snow. Maybe he also has in mind Melville’s discourse on whiteness in “Moby Dick.”