Category Archives: books
A Month in the Country
Elegiac, a term I associate with high school literature classes, came to mind as I was reading the beautiful A Month in the Country, a novella by English author J.L. Carr which was published in 1980. Carr, like many authors, … Continue reading
My Increasing Sci-Fi Skepticism
I overindulged on “literature” in recent months. In August 2025, I read Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-winning The Bridge of San Luis Rey and in September I followed that up with his ponderous National Book Award-winning The Eighth Day. I used a … Continue reading
Crystal Caves and Moon-Spinners
Mary Stewart was a British novelist, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow in 1916. She taught in grade schools and lectured part-time at Durham University before moving to Scotland with her husband in 1956. After nearly dying from an ectopic pregnancy … Continue reading
My Cultural Ignorance
There are several cultural touchstones I remain rather ignorant of, despite countless references to them throughout my six decades of existence. Peter Pan, for example. As a child, I ate plenty of his peanut butter, saw the animated Tinker Bell … Continue reading
Wilder’s Forgotten Award Winner
Thornton Wilder is still widely remembered for his 1938 play Our Town, and his second novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, won the Pulitzer in 1927 and made Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels of the 20th … Continue reading
