Book review: “The Light Fantastic” by Terry Pratchett
In Terry Pratchett’s second Discworld novel The Light Fantastic, a mob of Ankh-Morpork citizens has marched through the streets to the gates of the Unseen University to demand that the [...]
Death books: A list
Let’s talk about death. Okay, I know you’ve got to get to your tennis match. Or cook dinner, or check Twitter, or wash your hair. But, really, let’s talk about [...]
Book review: “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game” by Michael Lewis
Some books are like a lot of magazine articles and newspaper stories. They are so rooted in a present moment that, in the long run, they don’t stand up. Circumstances [...]
Book Review: “Killers of the King” by Charles Spencer
On the afternoon of January 27, 1649, Charles I, King of England, was told by a court of his subjects that, for committing high treason, he would “be put to [...]
Book review: “The Long Utopia” by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
The Long Utopia doesn’t sound much like the late Terry Pratchett, but neither have any of the earlier three novels in the Long Earth series — The Long Earth, The [...]
Book review: “BODY,” edited by Anthony Bond
Given our complicated feelings about our bodies, it’s no wonder that most of the art works included in BODY, edited by Anthony Bond, are unsettling. This book — the catalogue [...]
The Burnham Plan as literature
The 1909 Plan of Chicago, written by Daniel Burnham and his co-author Edward Bennett, is a great work of American literature. There, I’ve said it. Now, let’s see if I [...]
Book review: “Searching for Robert Johnson” by Peter Guralnick
There is much that is mysterious and evocative and just plain odd about the life of blues legend Robert Johnson who died in 1938 at the age of 27, probably [...]
Book review: “The Colour of Magic” by Terry Pratchett
Fifteen years ago, I interviewed Terry Pratchett for the Chicago Tribune about his new novel The Fifth Elephant. It was the 24th of his Discworld books, and it had to [...]
“July 10, 1981” and a dozen other faith poems
July 10, 1981 By Patrick T. Reardon On this porch, on this cool summer day, when the moon is benign in afternoon sky, when birds sing from wire to wire, [...]