Tag Archives: kurt vonnegut jr

Great First Lines

Anyone who writes knows how hard we work on the first line. It’s not that we are trying to live up to all the great first lines. It doesn’t matter how many best of times-worst of times stories we write, … Continue reading

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

In My World, Everyone’s a Pony!

There are so many great lines I could have stolen for this blog post: We’ve All Got Our Own Clovers With Worlds on Them How to Eat Rainbows and Poop Butterflies That Horton is a Menace Mom, Please, You are … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Wormwood Reborn? A Screwtapian Look at The Gates by John Connolly (Hell Series Part 1)

One of the great perks as a university teacher is that I am constantly in conversation with students about good books. While this occasionally gets me into conversations about Twilight (which I read with great effort) and Hunger Games (which … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

On a Love for Books; or, An Apology to My Patient Wife

I am, alas, a frequenter of used bookstores. While I like new bookstores, I find them too bright, too organized, almost clinical. They are garish and ostentatious, and all of them share the great sin of not selling my own … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments