Latest from the blog
Long Way Down
Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds, is a highly original novel in verse. It is clever, artful, provocative, and desperately important. Original: The story takes place in a single elevator trip from the... READ MORE
A Bittersweet History of Sugar
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving Somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. Elizabeth Abbott’s “bittersweet” history of sugar is heavy on bitter, light on sweet.... READ MORE
Let’s Be Rational
I had a friend not so long ago who espoused a libertarian point of view. I enjoyed talking with him about politics, debating issues. His outlook was new to me. I learned a... READ MORE
Drinking in America
Susan Cheever’s Drinking in America is a strange book. It is interesting, entertaining, and informative, but it is also a bit odd. Deciding between it and Lender and Martin’s 1987 book of the... READ MORE
No Coincidence: McWhorter/Loury Meet Menakem/DiAngelo
The seventieth puzzle in my Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! crossword puzzle book had me a little stumped. The actress in The Unbearable Lightness of Being? “This shouldn’t be looked at on the job”... READ MORE
Japanese Americans Uprooted in WWII
Uprooted by Albert Marrin breaks many of the “rules” that I have, correctly or not, picked up from other nonfiction writers–or perhaps mostly from my critique group. I have been discouraged from shifting... READ MORE