“There’s no other place around here like this, so–this must be the place. ” Card at Durham’s Ivy Room Restaurant, circa 1966
I’m not especially interested in relating the details of my daily life, so I’m not interested in a conventional blog. But I am interested in writing about books, and about some of the movies I see, and about writing and literature in general. I have a habit of writing, but no wish to show all of it—even most of it—to the world. What I’ll publish here is pieces that have a shape, because that’s what I like in other websites. I don’t want to hear from people everyday, just when they have something to say.
I do love to hear about good books to read, and movies to see. That’s what I’ll mostly write about.
All Shook Up posted on 03-04-2026
The Testament of Ann Lee a film by Mona Fastvold. With Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman. ** “Why did she make that movie?” my wife asked as we walked out of the theater. Ordinarily I would think that an irrelevant question. You don’t choose the Read MoreWhat's in a Song? II posted on 02-13-2026
A Fool for You by Ray Charles He held the needle above the record, preparing to lower it into the proper groove. “This song is about fucking,” he said. My friend Stan Hahn had been telling me for weeks about a huge collection of jazz recordsRead MoreWriting for his Life posted on 02-04-2026
Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, a Writer’s Life by Todd Goddard. Black Stone Publishing. 518 pp. **** In the late seventies, when my writing career was getting started, I followed the literary world the way other men follow the sports pages, and I Read MoreWhat’s in a Song? posted on 02-01-2026
“One Night” by Elvis Presley I’m inspired to write about songs by The Philosophy of Modern Song, by Bob Dylan, but also by three books written by the great Al Young, Bodies & Soul, Kinds of Blue, and Things Ain’t What They Used to Be. Young in Read MoreMixed Feelings posted on 01-20-2026
The Magus a novel by John Fowles. Back Bay Books. 656 pp. **** I can’t remember ever being as exasperated by a book that I basically liked as I was by The Magus. What I read—after my enthusiastic reading of The French Lieutenant’s Woman—wasRead MoreThe Lives of Artists posted on 01-14-2026
Sentimental Value a film by Joachin Trier. With Renata Reinsue, Stellan Skaargard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning. Streaming on various platforms. ***** Sentimental Value is a movie about two great—and greatly troubled—artists. GustavRead MoreFamily History posted on 01-12-2026
My Father’s Pastimes My father was one of the worst golfers who ever lived. He was a big guy, and he’d been an athlete when he was younger (he claimed that in high school he was the entire track team, competing in every event. A track meet wasRead MoreWhat Do I Call This Thing? posted on 12-15-2025
The Flamethrowers a novel by Rachel Kushner. Scribner. 383 pp. ***** Rachel Kushner is a writer who is so riveting line by line that you forget to step back and ask yourself what you’ve been reading. Then your wife asks and you say, it’s aboutRead MoreWho Gets the Oscar? posted on 12-08-2025
One Battle After Another a film by Paul Thomas Anderson. With Teyanna Taylor, Leonardo Di Caprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Benito del Toro. ***** It isn’t just that the plot of One Battle After Another, which is utterly absurd, reflects our own Read MoreAnd the Love You Make posted on 11-25-2025
The Love You Take a novel by Robert Wilson. Warbler Press. 270 pp. ***** Robert Wilson is a first novelist who writes like a veteran, and well he might; he has published three biographies, has written and edited for a variety ofRead MoreUnforgettable posted on 11-14-2025
The French Lieutenant’s Woman a novel by John Fowles. Little, Brown and Company. 467 pp. ***** The French Lieutenant’s Woman was one of the favorite novels of my friend Levi, who had read it multiple times. In fact, I believe he gave me theRead MoreWS posted on 10-31-2025
Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare’s Love Life by Anthony Burgess. Norton. 234pp. ***** I am constantly amazed by Anthony Burgess. Using the evidence of the surviving poetry, especially the sonnets, and what is known about theRead MoreScience as Religion posted on 10-17-2025
I Am a Part of Infinity: The Spiritual Journey of Albert Einstein by Kieran Fox. Basic Books. 322 pp. .00 **** The basic premise of this book is that Albert Einstein’s life’s work stemmed from an essentially religious feeling of awe and wonder Read MoreSheer Destruction posted on 10-14-2025
A Clockwork Orange a novel by Anthony Burgess. Norton. 213 pp. .95. ***** In the early seventies, there were three movies that took violence in cinema to a whole new level: The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and A Clockwork Orange. My wife and IRead MoreDon’t Miss This One posted on 09-26-2025
A Gathering of Old Men a novel by Ernest J. Gaines. From Gaines: Four Novels. Library of America. pp. 405-583. ***** Though I almost didn’t read it—I’d been disappointed by In My Father's House, which I found oddly inert—A Gathering Of Old MenRead MoreJohn Wilson. Great Writer. posted on 09-19-2025
The Pianoplayers a novel by Anthony Burgess. Arbor House. 208 pages. **** Anthony Burgess is one of my great literary heroes. Born in 1917—the same year as my father—he was a middle-aged itinerant teacher[1] who had done some writing on theRead MoreMaking a Man posted on 09-15-2025
A Lesson Before Dying a novel by Ernest J. Gaines. From Gaines: Four Novels. Library of America. pp. 585-800. ***** I could make various aesthetic quibbles about A Lesson Before Dying; some minor things drove me crazy as I read, and I wished IRead MoreMallon Works Magic posted on 09-12-2025
Watergate a novel by Thomas Mallon. Vintage. 429 pp. ***** I’ve resisted the three political novels at the heart of Thomas Mallon’s recent work, Watergate, Finale, and Landfall, about three presidents whom I’ve always detested, Nixon, Reagan,Read MoreHe Hit the Wall and It Disappeared posted on 09-02-2025
Peter S. 1945-2025 I met Peter some years ago, before the pandemic, when we both volunteered at Catholic Charities. I can’t remember how we struck up a conversation, but we had many things in common, including an interest in writing, and decidedRead MoreA Few More Words on Faulkner posted on 08-13-2025
Stories by William Faulkner. Library of America. 1160 pp. ***** I have now, so help me God, read every word William Faulkner wrote and published, at least all the prose. I enthusiastically reviewed this book some weeks ago, and had just aRead More
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All Shook UpWhat's in a Song? IIWriting for his LifeWhat’s in a Song?Mixed FeelingsThe Lives of ArtistsFamily HistoryWhat Do I Call This Thing?Who Gets the Oscar?And the Love You MakeUnforgettableWSScience as ReligionSheer DestructionDon’t Miss This OneJohn Wilson. Great Writer.Making a ManMallon Works MagicHe Hit the Wall and It DisappearedA Few More Words on Faulkner
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