McCain’s favorite novels included “Great Gatsby,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Huckleberry Finn,” and works by Somerset Maugham. One can understand why.
Tag Archives: Tom Sawyer
The Novels that Shaped John McCain
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, John McCain, Kidnapped, Mark Twain, Of Human Bondage, Razor's Edge, Robert Louis Stevenson, Somerset Maugham Comments closed
Lost in a Cave
The scouts rescued from in a flooded cave bring to mind the Tom-Becky story in “Tom Sawyer.”
Walmart Practices a Tom Sawyer Economy
Walmart relies on American taxpayers to subsidize its work force. This is being called “a Tom Sawyer economy,” an allusion to the fence whitewashing episode.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged American businesses, Mark Twain, Tax Policy, Walmart Comments closed
Queasy about Bodies Used for Medicine
The sting videos by anti-abortion activists are designed to shock. But being shocked by the use of dead bodies for medical research is nothing new, as seen in the grave robbing scene in “Tom Sawyer.”
Kid Fight in Congress
At times, Congress looks like two kids squabbling in “Tom Sawyer”–only in this case, the stakes are much higher and one side refuses to act like an adult.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged budget fight, Congress, continuing resolution, debt ceiling, Mark Twain, Obamacare, politics Comments closed
Why Does Everyone Hate Duke?
Sports Saturday Once again, one of the most hated teams in the country resides atop the NCAA basketball rankings: Duke University. In today’s post I find literary equivalents for the general animus against the Blue Devils. For the life of me I can’t understand why Duke is so disliked. Granted, I myself dislike Duke, but […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Basketball, Booth Tarkington, Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, Mark Twain, Oliver Goldsmith, Penrod, Sports Comments closed
Tom Sawyer’s “Behavioral Disorders”
Educational experts have long been concerned about the large numbers of underachieving boys in our school systems. My wife, once a public school teacher and now a member of our Education Department, provided me with some of the explanations. She notes that, of the three learning styles—aural, visual, and kinesthetic—the first two tend to get […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged ADHD, Behavioral disorders, Boys, Childhood, Education, Mark Twain Comments closed
