“…only a lucky writer can write a classic, and it’s only a rare classic that can be perennially relevant.” So writes Lauren Groff in her essay, “The Lost Yearling” (Harper’s, Jan. 2014, pgs. 89-94), a eulogy of sorts, for the fading Pulitzer prize book, The Yearling, wri

Sometimes, in the late afternoons, a woman comes down from the second floor of the retirement center to sit in our small café. She always orders a glass of white wine.  With the chilled liquid in front of her,  she gazes into the tall trees that sway outside the picture windows. 

Kazuo Ishiguro’s, The Buried Giant (Random House, 2015) is a tale signifying something, but the critics aren’t sure what.   Jon Ronson of the New York Times (Click) calls it a fantasy or a story akin to allegory.  Tim Holland of The Guardian attempts to cover all the basis, lin

There must have been a time when I cared about my wardrobe, but that was too long ago to remember.  In college, I wore levis and sweaters.  Later, as I travelled the globe, my wardrobe remained the same.  Being elected to public office required some refinements.  I bought pantyhos

One of my great bafflements about books is why some capture the public’s imagination and others languish in Amazon’s cellars.  Haruki Murakami’s latest novel, The Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage sold over a million copies the first week it was in print.  I’m a

A friend called me on a Sunday, responding to a birthday message I’d sent. As friends do, we caught up on each other’s lives and then made suggestions about books to read and movies to see. I recommend the films, August: Osage County and Blue Jasmine, both of which are films with

Rebecca Solnit, the author of Men Explain Things to Me, tickles my funny bone.  She has a sharp wit and a sharp pen which she exhibits regularly as a columnist for Harper’s. In addition, she is well-versed in a number of subjects, having written about the environment, landscapes, p

I don’t click on Amazon much.  Their sales strategy bothers me. For example, why I should pay almost $200 a year for the benefit of “free” shipping.  Do I detect an oxymoron here?  No matter.  I’m a bricks-and-mortar person.   The last item I purchased was an electric to

 Proving a negative is next to impossible but R. G. Price, author of the new book, Deciphering the Gospel, attempts to do just that.  He argues Jesus Christ never existed. Price is no Biblical scholar.  He’s a software engineer and data analyst.  Still, being an amateur didn’t

Heart Land is a fictional memoir of a bright and reckless boy growing up in rural Ohio in 1939, at the close of the Depression and before America’s entrance into World War II.  Ockley Green is a sleepy farming community where a kid with an active imagination is as likely to trick h