In a remarkable interview with “The New York Times,” Barack Obama spoke about the importance of literature in his life. The range of his reading and the sensitivity of his responses is astounding.
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Tag Archives: Philip Roth
Did Western Liberalism Give Us Trump?
Conservative columnist Ross Douthat suggests that, to understand Trump’s rise, we look not to novels like Sinclair’s “It Can Happen Here” and Roth’s “Plot against America” and instead turn to works by French novelist Michel Houellebecq. These helps us understand the crisis of Western liberalism, which Douthat sees as the major culprit.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Elementary Politics, It Can't Happen Here, Michel Houellebecq, Plot against America, Soumission, Upton Sinclair Comments closed
An Ideal Mother
When I think of a mother-son relationship that most matches my own, I think of Betsy Trotwood and David Copperfield.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Everything that Rises Must Converge, Flannery O'Connor, mothers and sons, Oedipus, Parenting, Portnoy's Complaint, Sophocles, To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf Comments closed
Vague Identity Adjectives Killed Trayvon
Novelist Susan Bender says that a literary understanding would have prevented the Trayvon Martin killing.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged George Zimmerman, Goodbye Columbus, Invisible Man, racial profiling, Ralph Ellison, Trayvon Martin Comments closed
Returning Home to Aging Parents
Marilynne’s Robinson’s novel “Home” captures some of my own experience returning home.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aging, Great American Dream, Home: A Novel, homecoming, Marilynne Robinson, parents Comments closed
Great Political Novels Not Agenda Driven
Great political novels are rich in spiritual attitude. Poor ones are agenda driven.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Easter 1916", American Pastoral, Berger's Daughter, fathers and sons, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Henry James, Ivan Turgenev, Joseph Conrad, Literary Theory, Nadine Gordimer, Natalia Ginzburg, Orhan Pamuk, political novel, snow, Stendahl, V.S. Naipaul, Vargas Llosa, William Butler Yeats Comments closed
Absolutely Nothing Beats a Triple
Sports Saturday Last Sunday was a very good day for Colorado Rockies player Carlos Gonzalez. He hit for the cycle (a single, a double, a triple and a home run), a feat that has occurred only 291 times in the history of baseball. Furthermore, the home run was of the walk-off variety, occurring in the […]
The Perfect Game that Wasn’t
Armando Galarraga Sports Saturday Even as we stand on the precipice of the World Cup—tragically I will be traveling cross country today when the U.S. is playing England—something has been happening in the world of baseball that invites comment. Perfect games are breaking out all over. A pitcher pitches a perfect game if no runner […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Luxury Boxes", Baseball, Bruce Cohen, Great American Novel, Perfection, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sports Comments closed
Uncomfortable Books that Help Us Grow
Streep and Kline in Sophie’s Choice A recent survey of the Tea Party movement has revealed that the movement is overwhelmingly white, educated, middle class and conservative, and people are now studying what it all means. I love this post Ta-Tehisi Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic. As occurs in the world of the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aruhdhati Roy, Diversity, Emily Bronte, God of Small Things, Human Stain, Native Son, politics, racism, Richard Wright, Sophie's Choice, Tea Party, William Styron, Wuthering Heights Comments closed