Best American Essays
Usually I study fiction writers. Right now, I'm in an online writers group. To get into a reviewer group, a writer has to take some certification courses. It made me face that I should also…
Category: Reading
Goodreads and Book Snapshots
Forgetting Stories In the summers between college semesters (about 1970), I discovered that if I read a novel and don't write anything down about it, in a few months or a year, all specifics of…
Speed of a Novel. Middlemarch
I just finished Middlemarch, George Eliot's masterpiece which I have avoided for fifty years. So, I'm glad to know it when it next comes up in conversation I'll know something about it (although it may…
Reading Appreciation Class
Last week I finished a discussion class, focused on the best American short stories of 2017 . In addition to enjoying the stories, I was looking to learn more about what readers wanted from the…
Reaction to Vicar of Wakefield
[caption id="attachment_2659" align="alignleft" width="187"] The Vicar of Wakefield[/caption] The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goldsmith's novel is a child of the Age of Reason. It's much too heavily…
Thomas Wolfe’s House
After Biltmore on Saturday, Kris and I walked in downtown Asheville Sunday morning and early afternoon. Great restaurants, street vendors, and specialty stores. Thomas Wolfe's childhood house was in easy walking distance. He populated Look…
Louisa May Alcott
Reading has always brought me pleasure, but I came to enjoy writing only after many years. It fascinates me how writers came to their calling. On Amazon Prime the other night, I watched the American…
Reading for Ethics in Literature
This class starts in a couple of weeks. Although I took a couple of philosophy classes back in the seventies at UMBC, where we discussed ethics, there the readings were abstract and the examples were…
Different Ways of Weighing the Same Short Story
Thoughts after 2012 Best Short Stories Appreciation class. A fundamental starting point is what weight you give to Style and what weight you give to Substance.