Tag Archives: American Literature

A screaming comes across the sky

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now. It is too late. The Evacuation still proceeds, but it’s all theatre. There are no lights inside the cars. No light … Continue reading →

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The Great American Novel ?

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

During this week in 1851, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published as The Whale in three volumes by Richard Bentley in London. Almost one month later in November, the first American edition was published in New York by Harper & Brothers. Although many think of … Continue reading →

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All Good Books Are Alike

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the … Continue reading →

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Happy 200th Herman

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

With all of the hullabaloo about local literary star Walt Whitman’s 200th anniversary celebrations, I completely missed the fact that it is also the 200th birthday of Herman Melville. To celebrate the anniversary, Chronicle Books has published this splendid pop-up … Continue reading →

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Why Vonnegut Matters

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Like many Kurt Vonnegut fans I became a devoted reader during my early adolescence. If memory serves, the first of his novels that I read was Sirens of Titan, but it could have just as well been Cat’s Cradle. Of course they weren’t teaching … Continue reading →

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Pierre; or, The Ambiguities

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

To be perfectly honest, I have always been ambivalent about Herman Melville. When I read Moby-Dick in high school, I found it to be an uneven slog. However, his iconic short story Bartleby the Scrivener provided me with a role model for life. The … Continue reading →

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Agree to Disagree

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Brian D. Butler

The University of Southern California’s Rossier Graduate School of education created this “Best Books of the 21st Century” infographic. I’ve got some personal quibbles with the selections. What do you think ?

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Lurk Late

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Brian D. Butler

With all of the hubbub and hullabaloo about the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art planning to open in Chicago, last week’s announcement finalizing the plans for the American Writers Museum got lost in the media fog. The good news … Continue reading →

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