5 Reasons Why Laurence Sterne was Light Years Ahead of His Time
“Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; the life, the soul of reading.” In terms of literary innovation, the novel has fallen on tough times. It’s too bad…
5 Takeaways from ‘Daily Rituals’: Serious Creatives and How They Make it Happen
“It’s no easy business to be simple.” Gustave Flaubert had a terrible time keeping his life and art simple in the ways he wanted them. Of…
A Bigger Picture: Claudio Saunt’s More Complete View of America in 1776
I just happened across an impressive interactive time map showing the loss of native American land year by year since 1776. It’s enthralling to stop the rapid progression…
Charles Wright: The Poet Laureate without a Program
“History handles our past like spoiled fruit.” If you haven’t discovered Charles Wright until now, he’s a great choice for U.S. poet laureate, and as an…
What Do Fish, Sentences, and Rhetorical Analysis Have to do with Creativity?
“It was in the books while it was still in the sky.” Updike’s famous sentence is one of Stanley Fish’s all-time favorites and in his elegant…
The Growth Mindset: How Our Self-Beliefs Shape Us
“For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt of yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.” We can all agree…
Why Prestige Gets in Our Way More Than it Helps Us
As a part of continuing to share his new ideas and on his David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants book, Malcolm Gladwell speaks…
Extra Lives: Tom Bissell on Why Video Games Matter
“Are video games a worthy way to spend my time?” Tom Bissell’s journalistic, slightly nerdish quest to discover what is great and not-so-great about videogames and…
Italo Calvino Reading from Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities is Calvino at his thematic and structural best. For more about this amazing book check out his Top 5 and Why. The following excerpt was recorded…
One of the Best Fiction Works of All Time? The Book of Disquiet
“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.” The Book of Disquiet stays with you, doesn’t want to be consumed all in a rush, and is…
