Monthly Archives: April 2016

Last Chance to Sign Up: Mythologies of Love and Sex (Signum University Class)

I am truly pleased to be offering a course at Signum University this coming Spring. This is my first time teaching at Signum, and I love the way they set up their courses: An inexpensive and accessible online program with … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Interview with William O’Flaherty, “C.S. Lewis Goes to Hell”

Readers of A Pilgrim in Narnia will know of my abiding interest in The Screwtape Letters. As the 75th anniversary of the first printing of the Letters is next Monday, we are taking a couple of weeks to celebrate this “positively diabolical” … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

How Screwtape was Introduced to the World

Next week we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the book that made C.S. Lewis a household name: The Screwtape Letters. It was first serialized in The Guardian, a relatively minor Anglican weekly. Screwtape joins Charles Dickens‘ Bleak House, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Stephen King‘s The Green Mile … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Original Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

Tolkien’s Road: A Film (Friday Feature)

A reader tipped me off to this little piece. While documentaries on J.R.R. Tolkien abound, and there are adaptations of his fiction, there have been few who have attempted to capture the story of the Mythmaker himself on film. Here … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Friday, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 52 Comments

The Shocking Reason Tolkien Finished The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien was a notoriously difficult writer to get to print. That The Hobbit found its way to store shelves was something of a publishing miracle, and it took Tolkien 15 years to write part two, “the new Hobbit,” which we … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Original Research, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

12 Reasons not to Write Lord of the Rings, or an Ode Against the Muses

I’ve never understood images of the Muses as seducers. Perhaps I am not truly inspired, but I get the same cold, clammy response from the Muses as I did from girls when I was in Junior High School. Fortunately, I … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

500 Posts!

Dear Reader, On Wednesday, in a rather inane reaction to David Foster Wallace’s impossible book, Infinite Jest, I hit 500 posts. I have talked about blogging here and here, so I won’t completely rehash the delights and difficulties of blogging. For … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections | 5 Comments

Thoughts on reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: #InfiniteWinter Midterm Update

This book is long. I mean, the “infinite” in Infinite Jest is approaching a new kind of literal meaning for me. My copy has 1079 pages. These are thick, full pages. Infinite Jest is a bestseller as well as a … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Annie Dillard, An American Childhood

Can I come to you as a literary evangelist for a moment? Actually, I’m always doing that, aren’t I? I have worked to remind a world much different than the original about The Screwtape Letters, and argued that The Great Divorce is a … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A Tolkien Book Collection

Because it coincided with Holy Week and family commitments, I missed Tolkien Reading Day. I am reading Return of the King to my son, and have begun Tolkien’s letters. I thought it would be fun to end the week with a Tolkien reader’s treat. My … Continue reading

Posted in News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments