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Monthly Archives: January 2020

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World ★★★★

Friday, January 24, 2020

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. C.A.Fletcher. Orbit, 2019. 384 pages. This incredible book has renewed my faith that people can still write superb and beautiful novels. It’s what we call a hot read. I had to keep telling myself to slow down, because the constant suspense made me want […]

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The end of the road for all you can eat home cookin’?

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Hillbilly Hideway. See below for more. It’s true everywhere, but here in the American South, our cuisine is (or was) an essential part of our culture and identity. Passing that culture and identity from generation to generation is very important work. But — at least here in the American South — that work is breaking […]

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A parable of justice

Friday, January 17, 2020

In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy. Katrina Forrester, Princeton University Press, 2019. 402 pages. ★★★★ A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, liberal ideas ruled. There had been a terrible Depression, followed by a terrible world war. Seventy-five million people died. Great cities and vast […]

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A portrait I wish I had shot

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Christopher Tolkien. New York Times photo by Josh Dolgin. Click for high-resolution version. I hope I am not inviting copyright trouble here. The extraordinary photo above is linked to a New York Times URL; I have not downloaded a copy of it. The photo accompanies the New York Times’ obituary for Christopher Tolkien, son of […]

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Conservatism, with lipstick and without

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Roger Scruton. Wikipedia photo. The Washington Post has an obituary this morning for Roger Scruton, whom the Post describes as a “British philosopher, author and high priest of conservatism.” Scruton was a lipstick conservative. By that I mean that his fundamental meanness was masked by good manners, nice clothes, connections to Cambridge, and even a […]

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Richmond, Jan. 20: I’ve got a bad feeling about this

Monday, January 6, 2020

“Unite the Right” rally, Charlottesville, Virginia, August 2017. Wikipedia photo. I had been wondering when the mainstream media would write a proper piece about the gun-rights rally planned for Richmond, Virginia, on Jan. 20. The Washington Post finally has it today: Prospect of gun control in Virginia draws threats, promise of armed protest. Because I […]

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A morbid measure of mass insanity

Monday, January 6, 2020

Wikipedia photo from the entry on Multi-Vehicle collisions During the weekend, in Pennsylvania, yet another traffic pileup killed five people and injured more than 60. Oddly, I can’t find any information on how many vehicles were involved in that pileup, though several of the stories have referred to a pileup in Virginia two weeks ago, […]

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His Dark Materials ★★★☆

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Until the next truly smashing science fiction or fantasy series comes along, His Dark Materials will help a bit to tide us over. Some reviewers seem to think that it’s a Game of Thrones knockoff. It looks more like Harry Potter to me. Still, there are strong elements of originality. A big part of what […]

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Are we overdue for a cat picture?

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Click here for high-resolution version. I apologize for not having posted for a while. For now, here’s a cat picture, because I don’t think I’ve posted a cat picture for a long time. It’s shocking to me that Lily, who still thunders up and down the stairs like a kitten, is almost 11 years old. […]

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