Category Archives: Writing

Odd doesn’t begin to cover these titles

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The shortlist has been unveiled for the 2024 Bookseller‘s Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. The annual prize was conceived in 1978 by Trevor Bounford and Bruce Robertson, co-founders of publishing solutions firm the Diagram Group, as … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, back in soulless America

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT John Ashbery Meanwhile, back in soulless America, people are having fun as usual. A bird visits a birdbath. A young girl takes a refresher course in polyhistory. My mega-units are straining at the leash of spring. … Continue reading →

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Once upon a time, suddenly

Posted on November 16, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“A Sudden Story” by Robert Coover Once upon a time, suddenly, while it still could, the story began. For the hero, setting forth, there was of course nothing sudden about it, neither about the setting forth, which he’d spent his … Continue reading →

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Encounters with French culture

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Last week, the American Library in Paris announced the winner of their 2024 Book Award, which recognizes titles originally published in English “that best realizes new and intellectually significant ideas about France, the French people, or encounters with French culture.” … Continue reading →

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The more things change, etc. etc.

Posted on November 12, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

In 1951, British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote an article titled “The Best Answer to Fanaticism—Liberalism” in The New York Times Magazine. Sadly, the piece could have easily been written this week. Russell wasn’t advocating for any particular political party or economic … Continue reading →

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Things Fall Apart

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

  Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is … Continue reading →

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The Unfortunate Narrator

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Forget Dystopia

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Thinking about all of the dystopian speculative fiction that I’ve been binging on in recent years, I am reminded of the great Ray Bradbury’s imagining of a more positive future for humanity. The 1984 short story The Toynbee Convector tells the … Continue reading →

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After London, or Wild England

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

During the Pandemic, I oddly began reading dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. I recently ran across Richard Jefferies’ 1885 novel After London which likely is one of the first post-apocalypse English language novels. The tale is set in a future England … Continue reading →

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Banned In the USA

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Banned In The USA isn’t a classic Springsteen tune, but instead it’s the newly released report from PEN America  documenting  public school book bans for the full 2023-2024 school year. The report records 10,046 instances of books banned nationwide, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments