We know that time travel is impossible. Yet when we pick up Octavia Butler’s Kindred or Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, we don’t stop reading when we see characters moving through time. No, we accept that the story the author wants to tell requires time travel, and we allow it to exist in the […]
“Breaking Bad” and the Willful Suspension of Disbelief Read More »
Book review: “The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing,” by Ewan Clayton Anyone who loves books will be interested in this book, which tells the story of typography: Writing matters, says Ewan Clayton, calligrapher, former monk, design and media professor and visual consultant to Xerox in Palo Alto, Calif., the folks who made the first
In today’s curation for Literature & Psychology I’ve come across this article: Escaping ‘Horrible Sanity’: Teaching Victorian Literature and Psychology Here Serena Trowbridge, Lecturer in English Literature at Birmingham City University in the U.K., introduces the module she teaches on Victorian literature and psychology. The rest of the article, written by one of Trowbridge’s students, describes
A University Module on Victorian Literature and Psychology Read More »
You Are What You Read: 14 Thought Leaders Share Their Bookshelves I admit I’m a book snob. The first thing I look at in people’s homes or offices is their bookshelves. I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours: I moved recently and haven’t even unpacked my books yet. These are new ones that
Have you noticed how similar are the stories of Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, and Harry Potter? All three of these ordinary fellows set out on a long journey, fraught with danger, to undertake a task with a little help from their friends. When Joseph Campbell examined the mythologies of the world’s major civilizations, he
Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey Read More »
Literature & Psychology is a collection of interdisciplinary news items that I aggregate daily (well, almost daily) through ScoopIt. Literature & Psychology is also a new category of blog post here. Of course, there’s a story behind it. About 35 years ago I completed the coursework, though not the dissertation, for a doctorate in
Introducing Literature & Psychology Read More »
The Best Book You’ve Never Read: ‘Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age’ On the Publishers Weekly blog Gabe Habash describes what can be an elusive concept, narrative voice: Books that are voice-driven are, of course, dependent on the strength of the voice. Think about the best character-narrators you’ve read: maybe it’s Scout or Holden Caulfield
Update April 2019 I originally put this list together a little over five years ago. I recently looked it over and decided it no longer reflects how I want to allocate the remainder of my life’s reading time. I have therefore put together a brand new list, which you can find here. If you’re interested,
I’m Joining The Classics Club Read More »
Announcing the L.A. Times Book Prize finalists for 2013 – latimes.com. The finalists for the 34th annual L.A. Times Book Prizes were announced Wednesday morning: 50 books in 10 categories are in the running to win the L.A. Times Book Prizes, to be awarded in April. Two authors will receive special recognition: John Green with
Announcing the L.A. Times Book Prize finalists for 2013 – latimes.com Read More »
‘About a Boy’: from novel to film to sitcom | Entertainment | The Seattle Times. Nick Hornby’s novel “About a Boy” keeps finding new lives. It inspired a well-received movie of the same name starring Hugh Grant, and now NBC has adapted and Americanized a series version. . . . It’s worth a look. More
‘About a Boy’: from novel to film to sitcom Read More »
