Book review: “Che — A Revolutionary Life” by Jon Lee Anderson
Nikolai Metutsov was an important guy in the Kremlin. He was an aide to Party Secretary Yuri Adropov (who later ruled the Soviet Union as General Secretary), and he was [...]
The Loop: How the “golden circle” of elevated tracks gave shape and power to Chicago’s downtown, united Chicagoans and saved the city.
Happy 120th birthday to Chicago’s Elevated Loop — the city’s savior! Savior? Yeah, really. The Elevated Loop is a big reason why, during the great social and demographic changes of [...]
Poem: “Present Tense”
(I) He plots movement, holds forces, makes strategy, wants high ground when the time comes. (II) You make a date. You place an order. You sit. You wait for [...]
Poem: “Theodore Roosevelt”
I smell the dust of the ranch and the smoke of the hill still as I sit here and listen to congressmen. I feel the bruise of [...]
Book review: “Children of Saigo” by Glenn Jeffers
The term “graphic novel” calls forth comparisons with novels in general. The two forms, after all, are about stories told on paper between covers of some sort. A better description, [...]
Book review: “Junk Type: Typography, Lettering, Badges, Logos” by Bill Rose
Junk Type: Typography, Lettering, Badges, Logos is an odd book that’s oddly compelling. True, you might look at it and think that it is of absolutely no interest for you, [...]
Poem: “July 10, 1981”
July 10, 1981 On this porch, on this cool summer day, when the moon is benign in afternoon sky, when birds sing from wire to wire, I [...]
Book review: “Lincoln’s Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac” by Stephen W. Sears
In May, 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness, when Ulysses S. Grant was new in command of the Northern troops facing the Rebels of Robert E. Lee, an irate [...]
Book review: “Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Act” by Peggy Macnamara
Some birds and bugs construct nests by sewing or weaving strands of material together. And some fashion nests out of various kinds of paper-like stuff that they create using their [...]
Book review: “You Suck: A Love Story” by Christopher Moore
You Suck: A Love Story, published in 2007, is a sequel to Christopher Moore’s 1995 novel Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story. It was then followed, in 2010, by Bite Me: [...]