Category Archives: Writing

Beyond Gravity’s Rainbow

Last week, Penguin Random House announced a new novel from Thomas Pynchon. The novel, his first in a decade, is called Shadow Ticket and is set to publish on 7 Oct. 2025. PRH’s copy:   Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going … Continue reading

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“Trimalchio in West Egg.”

It seems a bit incredible that F. Scott Fitzgerald originally titled the great American novel “Trimalchio in West Egg.”But in the end he called it “The Great Gatsby” and it remains one of the 20th century’s most read and beloved … Continue reading

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“A Grief Observed”

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. At other times … Continue reading

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It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though … Continue reading

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on tyranny

I know that I’ve posted about Timothy Snyder’s Twenty Lessons on Tyranny a number of times, but we are staring at the abyss in the United States and Democracy is on the verge of ruination. In this 10-minute video, John Lithgow reads … Continue reading

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where everything was forbidden

“Making Do” by Italo Calvino translated by Tim Parks There was a town where everything was forbidden. Now, since the only thing that wasn’t forbidden was the game tip-cat, the town’s subjects used to assemble on meadows behind the town … Continue reading

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fooleries of magic and religion

  Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on … Continue reading

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An Amusing Anecdote

 

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You have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes

What a brilliant book/art project . The shoe/book by Magdalena Haras who has taken excerpts from ‘The long Walk’ by Slawomir Rawicz and made them into a book that is also a pair of shoes. Magdalena’s interpretation alludes to secrecy with the information … Continue reading

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Fugue State

Death Fugue by Paul Celan Black milk of morning we drink you evenings we drink you at noon and mornings we drink you at night we drink and we drink A man lives in the house he plays with the … Continue reading

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