A short story written by Ernest Hemingway in 1924 has surfaced, according to the New York Times, and it is causing a bit of controversy between those who wish to see it published and those who control his estate. “At present, the opponents of publication […]

“It must be the inborn human instinct to imitate–that and man’s commonest weakness, his aversion to being unpleasantly conspicuous, pointed at, shunned, as being on the unpopular side. Its other name is Moral Cowardice, and is the commanding feature of the make-up of 9,999 men […]

I believe this must qualify as one of the biggest books ever published. A story in today’s New York Times points out that the publishing accomplishment of the year, perhaps of the decade, is about to take place. Brian Harrison, working in Oxford, has completed […]

I have to be careful; I own one of these. I didn’t realize I was “armed.” Here’s the story from the Associated Press: “TAMPA, Fla. — A weight may soon be lifted off a Maryland woman charged with carrying a concealed weapon in an airport. […]

This sounds like a fascinating book: THE FIRST IDEA: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence Evolved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans, writtten by Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker. “Its authors, one a psychiatrist and the other a psychologist and philosopher, have teamed up to […]

Scott Esposito has a good post (including the subsequent conversation) about the reasons for reading at his blog, Conversational Reading: “Perhaps the best way to get at this is to talk about approach. I approach these books for my pleasure, not my improvement. However, the […]

Here’s a new concept in magazine journalism. “What would you call a magazine with no newsstand sales, just five articles, four ads, and an unknown, very small, number of subscribers?” asks David Carr of the The New York Times. “If you are the publishing arm […]

For some reason or another, I received a copy of the “Official Census of the Republican Party” in the mail today. Let’s just say they missed their target audience with this piece of mail. Well, I actually know why I received a copy–Minnesota is a […]

Adam Gopnik has a good essay in this week’s New Yorker about why reading Shakespeare is still essential, as he reviews Stephen Greenblatt’s new book “Will in the World.” “Greenblatt’s book is startlingly good—the most complexly intelligent and sophisticated, and yet the most keenly enthusiastic, […]

A fable from my local newspaper: A stolen copy of a limited-edition copy of Aesop’s Fables, the famous children’s book that ends each story with a morality lesson, turned up in the hands of a young woman who allegedly intended to pawn it at a […]