Category Archives: Writing

National Poetry Month Is Here

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

LETTER TO SOMEONE LIVING FIFTY YEARS FROM NOW Matthew Olzmann Most likely, you think we hated the elephant, the golden toad, the thylacine and all variations of whale harpooned or hacked into extinction. It must seem like we sought to … Continue reading →

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Words Have Power

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Each year, the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom calculates the Top Ten Most Challenged Books. Here’s the just released list for 2016: This One Summer written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki This young adult graphic novel, … Continue reading →

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5 Years Later

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t Tom Gauld

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You Too Can Be An Intellectual

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I have been reading the Paris Review for as long as I can remember. Although it hasn’t cemented my credentials as an intellectual, I can honestly say that the publication has helped me to become more widely read. Every issue … Continue reading →

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The Handmaid’s Tale

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The Folio Society has reissued its exceptional 2012 edition of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. This volume contains a set of powerful illustrations by Anna and Elena Balbusso. Influenced by Soviet propaganda posters and constructivist art, the Italian twin artists … Continue reading →

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What do Patti Smith and Arthur Rimbaud have in common

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

What do Patti Smith and Arthur Rimbaud have in common ? They both owned the same house in France. The American singer and author recently purchased the partially restored home in Roche near the Belgian border with the intention of … Continue reading →

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Book Lover’s Guide To Coffee

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

If you love coffee as much as I do, you may want to download a free copy of The Book Lover’s Guide to Coffee. The e-book from Penguin Random House features stories on the cultural significance of the heavenly beverage, tips on … Continue reading →

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Manufacturing Consent

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Published in 1988, Manufacturing Consent is a frighteningly relevant book in this time of media collusion in the take over of democractic governments and institutions by kleptocrats and neo-fascists. The book challenges the idea that the mainstream media acts as a check … Continue reading →

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American Gods

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve long been an evangelist for Neil Gaiman’s outstanding 2001 novel American Gods and I’m looking forward to the TV adaptation this year. If you haven’t gotten around to reading the book, get on the stick; it’s great fun and surprisingly relevant … Continue reading →

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the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Eighty years ago this month, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was first published. Based on Steinbeck’s own experiences as a bindlestiff – an impoverished migratory worker – in California during the 1920s, Of Mice and Men tells the story of George Milton and … Continue reading →

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