Category Archives: Essays and Opinion

What’s in a name? The literary landscape once was littered with Johns and Jonathans. Now we are entering the age of the unconventionally named author… more»

John Milton was a misogynistic, heretical crank. It’s hard to like a man who dismissed colleagues as buffoons and bawds. But he was more than a turgid little prig… more»

God and booze. Ancient Egyptians drank beer; the Greeks praised Dionysus. Buddhists, Muslims, and Mormons take a dimmer view of intoxicants. Christians can’t decide… more»

Secretions, symptoms, signs. Tears can mean almost anything – grief, joy, proximity to chopped onions. They are a physical and metaphysical mystery… more»

Welcome to the problem-free future. “Smart” trash cans monitor your recycling, forks regulate your diet. It’s social engineering, disguised as product engineering… more»

Progress and poverty. The ideal of having enough – being comfortable – used to hold sway, along with a belief that wealth increased poverty. No more… more»…more»…

Hair-bobbing, heart-breaking Edna St. Vincent Millay conquered Greenwich Village with her looks and lyrics. The greatest female poet since Sappho?… more»

Dexedrine, champagne, Antigone. Few actresses seemed to have less need for serious reading, yet Marilyn Monroe was all for the intellectual life… more»

Gone is the rigor of Montaigne. Today’s essayists are yarn-spinners, tall-tale tellers, humorists parading as autobiographers… more»

The guerrilla paradox. Irregular fighters often humble richer and more-advanced foes. Then they tend to do something silly: adopt conventional tactics… more»