The Most Interesting Man in the World, for Real
Is it possible for a man these days to be a world explorer, a science nerd, well-mannered and nicely dressed, literate, good company, wittily risqué but never vulgar, and have a purpose-driven life?...
View ArticleWhat Happened to “Great Good Places”?
In his book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg explores the importance of “third places” in civic life. Third places are those places outside of work and home where a person can go, relax, socialize,...
View ArticleJohn Lithgow and the Power of Story
Audiobook addict that I am, I recently downloaded John Lithgow’s 2011 memoir entitled Drama: An Actor’s Education. I had been on the fence about choosing it until I sampled the book’s preface (by the...
View ArticleIs Heaven For Real?
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern. – William Blake,...
View ArticleAre You “Divergent”?
Divergent is one of the latest dystopian teen novels to hit the market: its writing a hybrid of the Hunger Games’ present-tense terseness, its romance abuzz with a physical, emotional absorption akin...
View ArticleShould Gender-Specific Books Be Stamped Out?
Last weekend Katy Guest, literary editor of the UK’s Independent on Sunday, touted an online campaign called Let Books Be Books, which petitions publishers to put an end to children’s books marketed...
View ArticleThe Way We Read Now: Introducing ‘Sensory Fiction’
Ever had trouble identifying with a book’s main character? Don’t worry: MIT scientists have got you covered. They just invented a new sensory vest and e-book system, called Sensory Fiction, which...
View ArticleWhy We Read Poetry
Why did I stop reading poetry? I think a lot of it had to do with the death of Charles Bukowski in 1994. In college in the late 1980s and for several years afterward Bukowski had been my favorite poet,...
View ArticleIs America Still a Fun Country?
There is a great virtue to American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt, the new book by John Beckman. That virtue is that American Fun strives to be about more than nostalgia. This isn’t a book by a...
View ArticleAre America’s Favorite Books Just Our Favorite Movies?
Last March, 2,234 U.S. adults surveyed online in a Harris Poll were asked to list their ten favorite books. The results give us some insight into our reading habits, but are they also telling us...
View Article‘The Blighted Eye’: Glenn Bray’s Incredible Collection of Original Comic Art
Short of holding it in your hands, there’s no real way to fully absorb the awesomeness that is The Blighted Eye: Original Comic Art from the Glenn Bray Collection. You may notice the book online, see...
View ArticleThe Lunacy of “Trigger Warnings”
It’s official: we have raised at least one generation so privileged and self-centered that it makes demands on life instead of the other way around. The New York Times reported recently on the rise of...
View Article‘The Fault in Our Stars’: A Provocative Novel About the Meaning of Life
The Fault in Our Stars is a more thought-provoking YA novel than most. Its author avoids many of the primary pitfalls of his genre by offering real emotion: the anger, affection, and despair expressed...
View ArticleThe Tragedy of the Porn Star Author
Asa Akira is a porn star. But more than that, she’s a writer. This became obvious soon after I started reading Akira’s new memoir, Insatiable: Porn – A Love Story. I was reading the book because I...
View ArticleWhy Does Everyone Love “The Goldfinch”?
The Goldfinch is having a moment. Published in October of last year, the novel by Donna Tartt has received wide acclaim from readers and critics. It’s become something of a pop culture phenomenon....
View ArticleUnfriending My Smartphone
It’s a cliché to say that Americans are addicted—heck, even enslaved—to our smartphones. That’s why when I picked up Kim Stolz’s newly-released book, Unfriending My Ex: And Other Things I’ll Never Do,...
View ArticleWhy Romance Novels Turn Women On
A whopping 25 percent of American adults did not read a single book in 2013, according to The Pew Research Center. In just over three decades, the number of non-reading adults has nearly tripled....
View ArticleIn Defense of Violent, Sexy, Revenge-Based Fiction
I admit it: I like violent, sexy entertainment in which people and things I hate get overthrown or blown up. I consider this enthusiasm completely healthy and normal. Through recorded human history...
View ArticleWhy Are We OK With “Torture Sex”?
What does Planned Parenthood have in common with 50 Shades of Grey? Torture sex. In a recent string of expose videos, Planned Parenthood staffers are caught on tape advising underage girls to engage in...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of Harry Potter in Dark Times
Last month at their home in Texas, Stephen and Katie Stay and four of their five young children were executed in an horrific massacre at the hands of the ex-husband of Katie’s sister. The sole survivor...
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