In the Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus takes a trip to Hades where he encounters many of his former comrades from the Trojan War, including Achilles who asks him: “How could you [...]
Daniel Okrent’s newly published The Guarded Gate is about immigration. But, much more, its subject is racism. Not black/white racism although that does rear its ugly head in Okrent’s rigorously [...]
As a world leader, Empress Dowager Cixi hasn’t had good press, nothing like, say, Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria. In terms of historical reputation, those women had their gender [...]
I’m hoping for a 2020 that’s OK. That’s all. I’m not looking for an excellent year. Or a super-duper year. Or the Best. Year. Ever. Just an OK year. Which [...]
The best books of 2019 Moby Dick by Herman Melville Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt The [...]
Job Oedipus Lear (David Achilles Othello) By Patrick T. Reardon Dung dark lone. (Lust flow betrayal) Bible Greek bard. King launches daughters to death. Leper badgers for [...]
Mostly Harmless — the 5th and sort-of final installment in the series of books by Douglas Adams that he started with A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — is mostly [...]
Lamentations Road By Patrick T. Reardon Lamentations Road runs past Judge Westcott’s mansion, out to Weed Hollow where a dead mule rots, a pestilence of flies, while [...]
Emma, this book review is for you, but don’t tell your Mom and Dad. They’d probably get all worried that a book like P is for Pterodactyl will ruin your [...]
Make By Patrick T. Reardon In summer, the father grilled hot dogs with his white t-shirt off, skin burning. In fall, he tolled novenas. After [...]
