I have a condition I think of as “The Book Bug.” Whenever I approach a large collection of books or I get my hands on a new one, my pulse jumps, my heartbeat quickens and I seem to get a slight fever. I’ve had the condition for decades. It hit me as a kid whenever Scholastic Books distributed their lists of new paperbacks and I was allowed to purchase two. (My attempts to increase the orde...
It’s easy to get lost in a good book. Not every book has this power but some stories can pull you in like the undertow and as long as the book continues, your consciousness is split between your familiar world and the narrative of the story, where you live fully and completely in its pages. I love getting sucked into a story but, between you and me, it’s painful when it happens because I always finish these books...
My ex-boss and I used to have the same discussion every year on this date. April the fifteenth was a historic day for both of us for different reasons, neither of which had to do with taxes. Both were watershed events with long-term ramifications and my boss and I would debate which one had the greater historical impact. I wish I agreed with my boss: Jackie Robinson’s debut as the first African-American player on...
Not all monsters are hideous or born to evil. From no less an authority than Wikipedia, the term monster comes from a Latin word that means an aberrant occurrence or creature. Well, a significant number of people have defied society’s expectations and as a result, were judged as monstrous by their peers and brave by later generations. One example is Beryl Markham, the subject of Paula McLain’s Circlin...
I love stage musicals. We were raised on a collection of cast albums from classic Broadway shows and my sister and I learned every song by heart. We’ve continued the tradition, to the present and both of us admire this form that combines the best aspects of art and entertainment. While we both love being entertained (who doesn’t?) it is the experimental side of this form that really draws me, how directors ...