Disappointing reads, or ‘Lit in the Pits’
Since 1999, hundreds of my reviews have appeared in The Smoky Mountain News. Of those, I would guess that less than 25 were negative. The cause of this disparity is simple enough. My good editor at the SMN lets me choose the books I review, and so I generally pick ones I expect to enjoy.
Discovering ‘Stoner,’ the novel I almost missed
In a review written in 2013 of John Williamson’s “Stoner,” Tim Kreider snagged the attention of The New Yorker readers with this title: “The Greatest American Novel You’ve Never Heard of.”
This year, when my friend Anne introduced me to “Stoner,” I still belonged to the ignorant crowd. I’d never heard of the man or his book. Given the title and its publication in 1965, I immediately assumed “Stoner” featured hippies and potheads.
Books about Christmas, and as a gift
The Christmas season, dreaded by some, beloved by others, especially children. Already you’ll find houses festooned with lights and yards dotted with inflatable Santas, “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night” on the radio and grocery store shelves stuffed with cards, chocolates and holiday cookies.
The story of the man who saved England
Benjamin Merkle’s “The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great” (Thomas Nelson, 2009, 272 pages) tells the story of the Wessex monarch who resisted the Vikings and after decades of fighting and prayer drove them out of his kingdom. He also began unifying Anglo-Saxon England into one realm, a merger only completed during the reign of Athelstan, Alfred’s grandson.
If God is gone, then what’s left?
Sometimes a book finds you when you need it and don’t even know you need it.
Over the last few years, I’ve read some of Andrew Klavan’s columns. He’s an excellent writer, the author of novels, film scripts and works of non-fiction.
Mark Helprin, a great American novelist
Friday, May 30, was a banner day I’ll long remember.
A soft Carolina-blue sky topped the Virginia hills and fields as I drove to novelist Mark Helprin’s farm, Windrow, in the countryside north of Charlottesville.
Is our therapeutic culture damaging children?
Search online for “are more teens today suffering emotional problems,” and a boatload of websites pop to your command. Explore a few of these sites, and you’ll find psychologists and counselors of all kinds writing about the mental and emotional stresses faced by 21st century teens; 32% of these young people, for example, have an anxiety disorder, and 1 in 5 experience depression.
The Parton sisters’ cookbook
About 10 years ago, Dolly Parton became one of my heroines.
It wasn’t her music, or her movies, or her theme park that brought my salute. No — it was the day I was browsing the West Asheville Library and discovered information about Parton’s contribution to literature and books: the Imagination Library.
‘Do not open the window or sing’
When I read certain online commentaries about the possibility of war with China, I smile. Not happily, but grimly. It’s a smile that shakes its head, baffled and in disbelief by the innocence and naivete of the commentators.
Can’t go wrong with a ‘Literary Mother’s Day’
Don’t worry. We’re not going to explore the relationship of Mrs. Bennet with her daughters in “Pride and Prejudice” or the nature of Marmee March in “Little Women,” who prayed “the fervent prayers only mothers utter.”
