Category Archives: Writing

La Guerre des Mondes

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

During the past week, I stumbled on three different references to H. G. Wells’ iconic science fiction novel  The War of the Worlds, including a new French-British television  series (which was mediocre at best). The early sci-fi classic was originally … Continue reading →

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but then you read

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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The Last Word Spoken

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Testimony: 1968 Rita Dove Who comforts you now that the wheel has broken? No more princes for the poor. Loss whittling you thin. Grief is the constant now, hope the last word spoken.In a dance of two elegies, which circles … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and The Handmaid’s Tale

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The American Library Association recently released its annual list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books, included as part of its 2020 State of America’s Libraries report. This report offers an annual summary of library trends, statistics and issues affecting all … Continue reading →

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Literary Conflicts

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Keep a sharp lookout

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

“The Peasant and the Cucumbers” by Leo Tolstoy (trans. by Leo Wiener) A peasant once went to the gardener’s, to steal cucumbers. He crept up to the cucumbers, and thought: “I will carry off a bag of cucumbers, which I … Continue reading →

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Adventures in Writing

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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NYC: A Day in the Life

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The cover of this week’s New Yorker magazine features a wonderful still life by cartoonist   Chris Ware. He drew several vignettes of New York City arranged in his now iconic grid to accompany this incredible piece about a single day … Continue reading →

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A Turn of a Phrase

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

I am often impressed by the cleverness of artist/illustrator/cartoonist Ella Baron’s work, but this week she out did herself with this brilliant cartoon puzzle published in the TLS. I tried but could not discover all 57 idioms depicted in the … Continue reading →

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Diary of a Bad Year

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

“The recent successes of human reason in its long contest with virus thinking should not delude us, for it has held the upper hand a mere instant in evolutionary time. What if the tide turns; and what if the lesson … Continue reading →

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