Geoffrey Fox

Reflections & Inquiries

A useless crime and collapsing illusions

2015.09.07

I just finished reading Leonardo Padura’s tremendously disturbing novel, El hombre que amaba a los perros (click on link for my review), which is three stories in one: Leon (Lyev Davidovich) Trotsky’s final years, from his exile from the USSR in 1929 to his murder in Mexico in 1940; how an idealistic young Communist from … read more »

The sociological imagination — in fiction

2015.09.01

I was startled recently by the recommendation that authors “brand” ourselves to sell our work, which I first saw in a symposium in the Spring/Summer 2015  issue of the Authors Guild Bulletin. It has also become commonplace in blogs I found quickly by a Google search (author + brand). It sounds crass, as though we … read more »

Before America: From the Olmecs to Teotihuacan

2015.08.21

I have just uploaded a draft of this chapter for a book on the architecture and urban settlements of civilizations in the Western Hemisphere prior to European contact. You can read it here: Before America (click on title). Later chapters will deal with the Maya, Tenochtitlan, and the civilizations of the Andes. I welcome your … read more »

The self-deceiving lover

2015.08.11 - Tags:

Conjugal Love by Alberto Moravia First published 1943 as L’amore coniugale In his villa in Tuscany in October 1937, Silvio — a rich dilettante who dreams of becoming a famous writer — decides that his most important story, perhaps his only story, is his intense, unlimited love for his wife Leda. He admires her affectionate … read more »

Please come in!

2015.08.05

Welcome to my renamed blog and newly designed website. It is the main entrance to my collection of published work of many years, with separate portals for political and social commentary and analysis, literary reviews,  fiction and blog posts, now organized and accessible. The snippets on the front page, which change at each viewing, will … read more »