Here’s What I Read in February 1. The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern Since I have been teaching at the Hebrew Academy, I’ve given myself a crash course in Judaic Studies. However, I probably would have chosen to read The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern regardless of where I was teaching. Stern is a native […]
Johnny Cash was born on this date in 1932. When you live in Memphis, you drive past Sun Studio all the time. It’s right there on Union Avenue, and if you’re going downtown from anywhere, you’re likely to pass it. You can see the tourists up and down the street, and you’ll feel sorry for […]
Renee plays backgammon, 23 February 2013.
Belle and Sebastian–so much to obsess about. I have the day off today, and I hadn’t planned on spending half of it obsessing about Belle and Sebastian. However, I just watched the fantastic, hour-long documentary on the early years of the band, and I am here to spread the word. If there is one band […]
This Valentine’s Day, give her a compass. It’s mid-February again, and we are all forced to deal with the oppression and anxiety of everyone’s favorite made-up holiday, Valentines Day. If there’s one thing a student of literature hates, it’s a cliché. And Valentine’s Day is a national holiday devoted to cliches. A dozen roses? Chocolate-dipped […]
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most famous literary suicides of all time. What is it about the life and death of Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide in her kitchen fifty years ago today, that continues to fascinate us? Why does her single novel, The Bell Jar, remain a mandatory read for […]
Here’s what I read in January. (Program note: I wrote this blog while simultaneously making a very involved casserole.) 1. Please Kill Me: the Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain I wrote about this book at length in a previous post. You can read about it here. 2. Paradise Lost, (Books […]