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Milton wrote this poem in 1629 at the age of 21. It is often considered his first great poem in English. It is poetically and theologically pure Milton. It is also the best Christmas poem ever written. For 40 years now, I have re-read this poem on Christmas Eve. It is as close to a… Read more
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I have not gone to many poetry readings. Those few I have attend have left me cold. Bothered invariably by the demeanor of the poet and/or of the audience. Poetry should be read aloud, but poets and audiences should be matched carefully. Only those who know the poet for the bag-of-gas he or she truly… Read more
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Thoreau is one the our most quotable writers. It is one of the reasons that those of us who are Thoreau fans re-read him so regularly. Reading “Walking” again I have underlined the following lines (there are many, many more I could include): In literature it is only the wild that attracts us. * *… Read more
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In his famous 1944 essay, “The Simple Art of Murder,” Raymond Chandler openly acknowledged Hammett’s genius. He properly credited him as “the ace performer,” the one writer responsible for the creation and development of the hard-boiled school of literature, the genre’s revolutionary realist. “He took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into… Read more
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Vengeance is the Spur, by Harry Whittington, is a “Cowboy & Indian” story. Captain Sam Marshall does not want war with the Apaches. He is trying to find a peaceful solution. But Washington D.C. relieves him of his command and sends a by-the-book Major (and, of course, his beautiful daughter) to take charge of the situation.… Read more
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I first read Ross Macdonald in the late 80s or early 90s, after reading a lot of Hammett and Chandler. It was a natural progression. For as many have pointed out, Macdonald perfected the hardboiled detective genre that Hammett invented and Chandler made literarily necessary. The protagonist of Ross Macdonald’s Southern California Noir work is… Read more
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“Were it not for coffee one could not write, which is to say one could not live.” — Honore de Balzac Read more
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I have always thought of Denise Levertov as intimidating. Looking back at a volume of her poetry I am not completely sure why that is. At first glance, she does not seem anymore or less accessible than a dozen other poets I can think of. And yet she does intimidate. Theology and philosophy are constant… Read more
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Each morning as I stand at my desk writing, I have a companion, sometimes two. I cannot imagine writing now without having a cat with me. A cat is the perfect companion for a writer. Because the literary relationship between cats and writers is such a natural one, it is not surprising to discover that… Read more
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“…there are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade’s End is one of them.” ~W.H. Auden When I was in college, I had to make a choice one semester between taking Romantic Literature or Victorian Literature. Knowing just enough about everything to get myself into trouble, I chose to take Victorian Literature. Romantic… Read more
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