Category Archives: Writing

“Practice resurrection. Part of who you are is who you will be.”

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in … Continue reading →

Posted in USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I go unrecognized in paradise

Posted on February 8, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Dean Young — “Scherzo”

Posted in USA, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Once Upon a Time

Posted on February 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

 

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“In wondering why Americans are afraid of dragons, I began to realize that a great many Americans are not only anti-fantasy, but altogether anti-fiction. We tend, as a people, to look upon all works of the imagination either as suspect … Continue reading →

Posted in USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Alice is back home

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Christ Church Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries have become joint owners of an exceptionally rare first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the most important of only 22 known surviving copies of the first and subsequently withdrawn edition. The book … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

there are precedents for mystical encounters of various kinds

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third place of no name, character, population or significance, sees a unicorn cross his path and disappear. That in itself is startling, but there are precedents for mystical … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Theater, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

And the 2025 lists begin

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The staff of the New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction titles. “The envelope, please: After a full year spent reading hundreds of books and meeting regularly to bicker — er, converse — about their … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It Goes On

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

by Lyn Lifshin  

Posted in USA, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Word of the Year Doot Doot

Posted on November 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

For its Word of the Year, Dictionary.com has selected “6-7” from its list of contenders for terms capturing the Zeitgeist of language and culture over the past twelve months. The meme, phrase and accompanying hand gestures from a nonsense lyric … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Change, but start slowly

Posted on November 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Change But start slowly, because direction is more important than speed. Sit in another chair, on the other side of the table. Later on, change tables. When you go out, try to walk on the other side of the street. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment