Book review: “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens
Among the many distinctive characters in David Copperfield, I have a soft spot in my heart for Jane Murdstone. Actually, that’s wrong. It’s not so much a soft spot [...]
Book review: “The Christ of the Miracle Stories: Portrait through Encounter” by Wendy Cotter CSJ
Twice in her 2010 book The Christ of the Miracle Stories, Wendy Cotter tells this story about the Roman emperor Hadrian: He was on a journey, and a woman [...]
Book review: “The Mouse that Roared” by Leonard Wibberley
The Mouse that Roared, a comic, satirical, even silly novel by Leonard Wibberley, was published in 1955, a decade after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to [...]
Book review: “Murder on the Links” by Agatha Christie
Much of Agatha Christie 1923 mystery Murder on the Links seems, nearly a century after its publication, pretty hokey. There is a drawing-room, stage-set feel to its scenes, and Christie’s [...]
Book Review: Two Books about Dying — 2 — “Advice for Future Corpses (And Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying” by Sallie Tisdale
Over the years, I’ve read a fair number of books about death, but I found Sallie Tisdale’s Advice for Future Corpses so rich and powerful that, by the time [...]
Book Review: Two Books about Dying — 1 — “How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter” By Sherwin B. Nuland
Samuel Johnson, that great English expert on words, once wrote: “Hope is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps the chief happiness which this word affords.” Sherwin B. Nuland highlights [...]
Essay: In praise of the backup catcher
Throughout this major league baseball season, I’ve been cheering on one particular player — Austin Romine. Never heard of him? Not surprising. He’s the backup catcher of the New [...]
Poem: “How puzzle the prayer”
How puzzle the prayer Walking seminary fields, silent-hour recollection days, calloused caress of color and blaze, sharp tender bright air slicing wet morning grass. Filled with [...]
Essay: Why write?
Since the age of 12 when I had my first byline on a Father’s Day essay in the neighborhood newspaper, I’ve been addicted to writing. Over the years, I’ve [...]
Book Review: “The Plan of Chicago” By Daniel H. Burnham and Edward H. Bennett
I’m a card-carrying nerd and a guy who, during a long career at the Chicago Tribune and later in other forums, has written much about cities and demographics. And [...]