Blogroll

Weekend Edition 3-12

Being highly ambivalent this week, an abbreviated edition this weekend.

Interesting Reading in the Interweb Tubes

Prime Suspect, Second Row Center (“The nature of students’ comments told me right away which students were aware that an alleged ax murderer was in our midst.”) (via)

Bookish Linkage

Although perhaps preaching to the choir, SF author takes […]

A reader’s-eye view of gender in publishing decisions

There’s been quite a bit in the book blogosphere last month about statistics showing a low percentage of women being published in major literary magazines and books by women being reviewed less frequently than men. I have no reason to doubt or dispute the statistics but at the same time wonder how much of this […]

Weekend Edition: 3-5

Bulletin Board

Happy, happy, joy, joy. My Frozen Four ticket arrived this week: lower level between the red line and the visitor’s blue line.

Interesting Reading in the Interweb Tubes

Are Americans Ready for Democracy? (“Far from thinking of the greater good of their society, most Americans embrace a tribal ethos of ‘what’s in it […]

Yes, people, the Constitution protects wackos too

Although it tends to be overused and misattributed, the summary of Voltaire’s thoughts on free speech — “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” — epitomizes my views of the First Amendment. More important, that view was reinforced by the U.S. Supreme Court today […]

Look out for reviewers who dislike owls

Essays about book reviewing, particularly those by authors, intrigue me. Certainly, the views Charles Baxter expresses in Owl Criticism are worthy of note.

Lots of people will agree with him that many Amazon reviews, such as those that dismiss Anna Karenina or Madame Bovary simply as boring, “serve no purpose at all.” Yet when he […]