People argue about the Great American Novel. Some folks say it was Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn since it captures the assets and liabilities in our national character. Others suggest it is an epic of exploration like Lonesome Dove or (since we are a restless people, obsessed with reinvention) The Great Gatsby. To me, the question is open because these and others are all brilliant, beloved works but I’m sur...
It’s hard to write well about miracles. They blindside you and because they’re so unexpected, it’s hard to frame lead ins for them. With other stories, the author can add foreshadowing and clues to point the reader in a general direction but miracles come without warning. Sometimes the miracle is such a surprise, that people refuse to believe it occurred. I have my share of skepticism but I do b...
There they are, pictured in American History books, looking like would-be models for a Grant Wood painting: Orville and Wilbur Wright, two men idolized for their achievement in flight but unknown and unknowable beyond that remarkable fact. These tall, thin men appear in the history of mankind, one of them skimming over a sand dune in a contraption of wood struts and fabric while the other stands alongside. Then they disappea...
Not every novel is a classic. Visit any English class and you’ll hear that a lot of novels are pulp or, as Capote said, “That’s not writing; That’s typing.” I won’t argue that point (my mom didn’t raise anyone that foolish) but I think some “popular” novels get less respect than they deserve. These books, whose primary purpose is entertainment, often have insi...
They don’t teach us that when we’re kids. When we’re little, the routine is a big part of our existence and we rely on it as much as we chafe at its boundaries: on weekdays we wake up and get dressed for school, following a specific route from home to class and back; we meet who we’re supposed to meet when we meet them and homework is done on the dot. We have a prescribed dinner time, family time and bedtim...