I stumbled upon our society’s most fascinating enduring metaphor by chance. Clicking around on iTunes, I noticed that I owned six different songs called “Ship of Fools”.
But these weren’t six different versions of one song. “Ship of Fools” was not a classic cover song, like “Dancing in the Streets” … Read the rest
If you’ve heard any recent news coverage about the peace agreement between Iran, USA, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China that will hopefully move forward this week, there’s a good chance this is because the opposition in USA has been so noisy. We’ve seen big headlines about Republican hawks inviting … Read the rest
You may have heard about Wittgenstein’s poker, or Wittgenstein’s nephew, or Wittgenstein’s mistress, or Wittgenstein’s ladder. For some reason that I don’t fully understand, people like to read books about Wittgenstein’s stuff.
Well, it’s fitting that Ludwig Wittgenstein shows up in a lot of postmodern novels … Read the rest
D. G. Myers, a celebrated literary critic, professor and blogger, died quietly of cancer in late September. For many like me who only knew D. G. Myers through his writings and online presence, his death was no surprise. We had read about it on A Commonplace Blog or in Time … Read the rest
I always wondered how I would react if I ever found somebody else using the “Litkicks” name.
I can’t see myself ever sending a “cease and desist” letter through a lawyer. That just wouldn’t be my style, and it would betray the various vague but passionate stances I have taken … Read the rest
Two children’s books I loved as a kid (and still love as an adult) have been republished in attractive new editions. Whether you’ve read these two books before or not, they are awesome and well worth checking out.
Funny thing, a trollish article titled “Against YA: Adults Should Be … Read the rest
It’s time to start putting some puzzle pieces together.
Five weekends ago I began a project by suggesting that we try to analyze some tough ethical/historical problems with the methodology of a puzzle-solver, by which I meant that we would determine a few principles or “tools” and then apply … Read the rest
I’ve been trying to philosophize about the Ukranian crisis in real time. This is always hazardous. Last Saturday morning, February 22, I invited readers to look at six images representing the history of Ukraine and to suggest three more that help fill out the story we are trying to understand. … Read the rest
I’ll never forget where I was and how I felt when I read the closing pages of Paul Auster’s City of Glass, the first and most crucial part of his New York Trilogy
City of Glass was … Read the rest