Category Archives: USA

Hey, It’s National Poetry Month

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Just Beyond Yourself David Whyte Just beyond yourself. It’s where you need to be. Half a step into self-forgetting and the rest restored by what you’ll meet. There is a road always beckoning. When you see the two sides of … Continue reading →

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History Repeats Itself

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Karl Marx wrote that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” This reprint from the St.Louis Dispatch September 9, 1923, should be a reminder of the farce playing itself out across the United States and Europe today.

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21st Century Libraries

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Librarians from the historic California State Library in Sacramento created the cartoon-style infographic below to celebrate National Library week and to explore the many roles that libraries can play in the 21st century. Established in 1850, the California State Library … Continue reading →

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A Very Timely Reminder

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

The American Library Association recently released its annual Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books, included in the ALA’s State of America’s Libraries Report 2019, an annual summary of library trends “that outlines statistics and issues affecting all types of libraries. Never … Continue reading →

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American Weirdo

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

This weekend I stumbled upon this terrific retrospective on the way under-appreciated alternative comics series created by R. Crumb in the 1980s. Weirdo bridged the cultural and generational gap between the “underground comix” of the 1960s and the later so-called “alternative comics”. … Continue reading →

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Friday Funnies

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Some of you may know that about a year ago I joined the ranks of the coffee-obsessives and began roasting my own coffee beans. So far, I’ve subjected my friends and family members to my experiments without too much complaint. … Continue reading →

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Best Bookstore of the Year

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan has been named PW‘s Bookstore of the Year. Literati which opened in 2013 celebrated the store’s fifth anniversary last April.  Brooklyn transplant co-owners Hilary and Michael Gustafson posted on Facebook: “When we opened Literati we … Continue reading →

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Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Kurt Vonnegut’s masterwork Slaughterhouse-Five. Part autobiographical, part science fiction, part satire, Slaughterhouse-Five was Vonnegut’s first bestseller and remains a revered literary classic of the 20th century. After the real-life Vonnegut … Continue reading →

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Perpetually Awaiting A Rebirth of Wonder

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the 100th birthday of America’s most loved living poet. If you spend any time at TBTP, you have by now likely noticed my fondness for Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In fact, the first poetry books that I bought were his A … Continue reading →

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You should have seen him go go go

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

It’s been more than five years since Lou Reed’s death, but the seminal 60s rock icon has not been forgotten in New York City. To celebrate what would have been his 77th birthday, the New York Public Library has opened … Continue reading →

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