Book review: “Playback” by Raymond Chandler
Two-thirds of the way through Raymond Chandler’s novel Playback, Philip Marlowe is having a conversation with Henry Clarendon IV, an aged, wealthy man who spends his days sitting in a [...]
Book review: “The Souls of Black Folks” by W. E. B. Du Bois
Published in 1903, The Souls of Black Folks by W. E. B. Du Bois is an important book of American literature, a significant work in the development of the field [...]
Poem: “The perfect act outside of Brady’s Tavern”
The perfect act outside of Brady's Tavern By Patrick T. Reardon Stop, short the physical. Yes, you know the noxic feel in the deep and up throat and out, and [...]
Book review: “Small Gods” by Terry Pratchett
Two dead men. Long ago, the first tried to kill the second with a horrible torture but was killed by an act of a god. The second lived a long, [...]
Book review: “La Brava” by Elmore Leonard
On the last page of Elmore Leonard’s 1983 novel La Brava, his title character, Joe La Brava, is told by former screen siren Jean Shaw, “It’s not the movies, Joe.” [...]
Book review: “Edward Hopper: Portraits of America” by Wieland Schmied
On one of the final pages of his 1995 study Edward Hopper: Portraits of America, Wieland Schmied emphasizes the starkness, bleakness and harshness of light in Hopper’s paintings, especially those [...]
Book review: “Pavane” by Keith Roberts
Lady Eleanor, a young ruler in the county of Dorset in southern England, is quiet and thoughtful, sitting alone in Corfe Castle with her seneschal, John Faulkner. Just hours earlier, [...]
Poem: “Bethlehem”
Bethlehem By Patrick T. Reardon Motel sign, blinking, blinking, blinking: "Jesus Christ slept here." Put up a theme park with dioramas and interactive learning centers and miniature railroad circuits and, [...]
Poem: “Towers loom”
Towers loom By Patrick T. Reardon Loop towers loom behind their gleam, and I can take you to the parking lot just off Dearborn Street where the Mayor and reporters went down [...]
Essay: Soul Seeing: “The holiness of beauty is a glimpse into the heart of God”
The other day, I was at the First Communion of my great niece Maeve, and I was again struck, as I often am, by the holiness of beauty. Maeve is [...]