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Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter

Charles Dickens

  • BOOK REVIEW: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    I decided this Christmas to reread the familiar Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. I would guess that I last read it some 40-plus years ago. I wonder if there is a single work of fiction that has had more different adaptations of it filmed over the years. I highly doubt it. The familiar character of Scrooge has become (along with such literary characters as Sherlock Read more

  • Literary Cat Quotes

    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

  • This House is Haunted by John Boyne

    The Literary Ghost Story is a noble tradition: The “Signal-Man” and Dickens play an important role John Boyne’s novel This House is Haunted.  It is a well-written “Victorian” ghost story featuring London fog, numerous literary references, and a mysterious country manor. Before the arbitrary distinctions of genre vs. literary fiction, many great writers tried their hand at Read more