Projects for the new year
This coming June will be the 60th anniversary of my Harvard graduating class. There, at our reunion in Cambridge MA, Susana and I hope to see f2f and embrace classmates that I have seen recently only by Zoom, including in our weekly gatherings hosted and organized by classmate Kent Garrett, author of a very good … read more »
“Rabble!” and related books
Just published on shepherd.com For authors, shepherd.com is a great way to put your work in the context of other writing you admire. Here, on my page, you will see some description of each recommended book and why I chose it. To continue my larger theme of the eternal struggle of people seeking to create … read more »
Forbidden to laugh
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie My rating: 5 of 5 stars The news of the stabbing of Salman Rushdie (2022.08.12) has made me want to celebrate once again this wonderful, hilarious satyrical novel. Which I now want to reread. I just found my handwritten review from my journal, written shortly after its publication. Here … read more »
After Bucha…
The massive Russian invasion of Ukraine and the savage cruelties of many of Russia’s soldiers have brought to mind for me and many other journalists and writers Adorno’s anguished lament of almost 80 years ago : “After Auschwitz, to write a poem is barbaric…” … and that barbarism “is why it has become impossible to … read more »
Time of the Wolf: Germany, post-war
Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich by Harald Jähner My rating: 5 of 5 stars Aftermath by Harald Jähner (original: Wolfszeit, “Wolf Time,” 2019) is about the Germans in 1945-1955, recovering from the war, their huge and humiliating defeat, the destruction of most of their cities and production facilities, and their own … read more »