My Year in Books, 2018
Looking back, I see that I did a lot of rereading in 2018. Some of it was out of necessity (teaching), and some for pleasure. Some of it showed up … Continue reading
William Giraldi, American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring
American Audacity: In Defense of Literary Daring by William Giraldi My rating: 4 of 5 stars Though better known as the novelist who wrote the now-Netflixed Hold the Dark, William … Continue reading
Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life by Theodor W. Adorno My rating: 5 of 5 stars It helps to know that this 1951 book, an unclassifiable philosophical masterpiece consisting … Continue reading
Wesley Yang, The Souls of Yellow Folk
The Souls of Yellow Folk by Wesley Yang My rating: 4 of 5 stars It was once a pop-socio-psychological commonplace of American foreign-policy commentary that terrorism on behalf of political … Continue reading
Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others
Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag My rating: 3 of 5 stars Susan Sontag’s oeuvre is a long palinode. Identified for years with the positions she took, or … Continue reading
Samuel Johnson, Selected Essays
Selected Essays by Samuel Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This Penguin Classics collection of essays by the great English critic and moralist Samuel Johnson is devoted largely to … Continue reading
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates My rating: 4 of 5 stars It is a poor period indeed which must assess its men of letters in terms of … Continue reading
Elizabeth Hardwick, Herman Melville
Herman Melville by Elizabeth Hardwick My rating: 4 of 5 stars A review with, or in, digressions: Elizabeth Hardwick, who died a decade ago at 91, is having a literary … Continue reading
Roberto Calasso, Literature and the Gods
Literature and the Gods by Roberto Calasso My rating: 5 of 5 stars Literature and the Gods is a short, dense essay rather than the more literary-historical or conspective account … Continue reading
