Review: Jan Swafford’s “Mozart: The Reign of Love”
Criticism - “The problem is that this story of Mozart that we think we know is not true at all; thankfully, Jan Swafford is here to correct the problem.” 3/3/2021
Criticism - “The problem is that this story of Mozart that we think we know is not true at all; thankfully, Jan Swafford is here to correct the problem.” 3/3/2021Review: “The Klondike Bake-Oven Deaths” Criticism - “In a novel to be released later this month, Hornblum—perhaps best known for his 1998 non-fiction book Acres of Skin, which centers on different events at Holmesburg Prison—retells the calamitous events of August, 1938.” 2/24/2021
Criticism - “In a novel to be released later this month, Hornblum—perhaps best known for his 1998 non-fiction book Acres of Skin, which centers on different events at Holmesburg Prison—retells the calamitous events of August, 1938.” 2/24/2021What Ortega y Gasset and Orwell Both Foresaw Criticism - “Both Ortega and Orwell concluded that the Left was in trouble as a result of these developments, and their analyses and diagnoses pointed the way forward to the situation we have today in the West.” 2/23/2021
Criticism - “Both Ortega and Orwell concluded that the Left was in trouble as a result of these developments, and their analyses and diagnoses pointed the way forward to the situation we have today in the West.” 2/23/2021The Moral Philosophy of Plutarch Criticism - “While not all of his essays are explicitly moral in orientation, nearly all of Plutarch’s essays have moral instruction and guidance baked into them.” 2/18/2021
Criticism - “While not all of his essays are explicitly moral in orientation, nearly all of Plutarch’s essays have moral instruction and guidance baked into them.” 2/18/2021What Latvia Understands That America Doesn’t Personal Essay - “Having lived in Latvia for over a year…there is a selection of good things, ideas or their manifestations, which seem to pervade Latvia and/or which the United States either lacks or has forgotten.” 2/13/2021
Personal Essay - “Having lived in Latvia for over a year…there is a selection of good things, ideas or their manifestations, which seem to pervade Latvia and/or which the United States either lacks or has forgotten.” 2/13/2021My Experience Being Cancelled, Twice Personal Essay - “While many have suffered badly—and I do feel their anguish over being fired, falling into depression, or even committing suicide—I have to admit that it turned out rather nicely for me.” 2/8/2021
Personal Essay - “While many have suffered badly—and I do feel their anguish over being fired, falling into depression, or even committing suicide—I have to admit that it turned out rather nicely for me.” 2/8/2021Review: Nicholas McDowell’s “Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton” Criticism - “As McDowell suggests, it was the liberating and open environment of humanist education that moved Milton more than any theological or political zeal, and it seized Milton at an early age.” 2/3/2021
Criticism - “As McDowell suggests, it was the liberating and open environment of humanist education that moved Milton more than any theological or political zeal, and it seized Milton at an early age.” 2/3/2021Don’t Cancel the Classics—We Need Them More Than Ever Criticism - “Those who are adamant that love will trump hate, heal the world, and divinize us are not articulating anything new. The Greeks are still singing to us the songs of humanistic love as the spirit that will heal the world.” 1/12/2021
Criticism - “Those who are adamant that love will trump hate, heal the world, and divinize us are not articulating anything new. The Greeks are still singing to us the songs of humanistic love as the spirit that will heal the world.” 1/12/2021General Patton’s Silent Night Reflection - “On December 21, 1945—75 years ago today—in the stillness of his waning moments in a German military hospital, General George S. Patton Jr. pondered his life.” 12/21/2020
Reflection - “On December 21, 1945—75 years ago today—in the stillness of his waning moments in a German military hospital, General George S. Patton Jr. pondered his life.” 12/21/2020Beware the Interpreter: “Hillbilly Elegy” as a Prime Example Criticism - “Vance’s critics could benefit from a basic overview of the difference between a primary and secondary source, and between the personal and the systemic.” 12/15/2020
Criticism - “Vance’s critics could benefit from a basic overview of the difference between a primary and secondary source, and between the personal and the systemic.” 12/15/2020Ten Novels for Understanding the Modern British Identity Criticism - “Therefore, in the spirit of diversity and exploration, I have compiled a list of what I see as the ten best novels on modern British identity, to remind us that British identity is not exhausted by the referendum divides…” 12/13/2020
Criticism - “Therefore, in the spirit of diversity and exploration, I have compiled a list of what I see as the ten best novels on modern British identity, to remind us that British identity is not exhausted by the referendum divides…” 12/13/2020A Once-Unnecessary Reminder: Criticism Produces Good Works Criticism - “My own song ‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don’t like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending…” 11/29/2020
Criticism - “My own song ‘Alabama’ richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don’t like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending…” 11/29/2020Review: Clint Margrave’s “Lying Bastard” Criticism - “Lying Bastard is a work of the zeitgeist. Disgruntled intellectuals. Returning war veterans just beginning their higher education. A school shooting. The fraud of academicians. Societal exploitation.” 11/10/2020
Criticism - “Lying Bastard is a work of the zeitgeist. Disgruntled intellectuals. Returning war veterans just beginning their higher education. A school shooting. The fraud of academicians. Societal exploitation.” 11/10/2020A Korean Dyad Fiction - “Saying that people need to know the objective truth about what goes on Up There, the objective truth about evil places fueled by imported wine and blank consciences.” 10/13/2020
Fiction - “Saying that people need to know the objective truth about what goes on Up There, the objective truth about evil places fueled by imported wine and blank consciences.” 10/13/2020Self-Determination and Philip K. Dick’s “Ubik” Criticism - “The ultimate message it proffers—Ubik the substance, Ubik the book—is one of self-determination despite humanity’s manifest lack of control and certainty.” 10/9/2020
Criticism - “The ultimate message it proffers—Ubik the substance, Ubik the book—is one of self-determination despite humanity’s manifest lack of control and certainty.” 10/9/2020“Gone with the Wind” Isn’t Going Anywhere Criticism - “What is a classic? What is an epic? These two questions loom over any reader of Gone with the Wind (and great literature, more generally).” 9/26/2020
Criticism - “What is a classic? What is an epic? These two questions loom over any reader of Gone with the Wind (and great literature, more generally).” 9/26/2020