Kurt Vonnegut: A Man Without A County
I read A Man Without a Country back when it came out, 2005. Vonnegut died soon after, April, 2017, so …
Category Archives: Essays
The Story of Stories: Why do We Tell Them? How Long Have We Told Them?
Not everyone can tell a gripping story but telling stories may be as integral to the evolution of Homo sapiens …
Walking the Sierras, One Millennium at a Time
As a kid, like many other kids, I was fascinated by time travel. And perplexed. If I could go back …
Salt of the Earth: Sabastião Salgado Looks At Worlds in Trouble and One of Healing
Sebastião Salgado’s photography is among the most stunning in the history of the camera. Many talented and fully engaged witnesses with cameras …
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Can we talk?!” Joan Rivers peppered her routines with her signature riff, aggressive and not a question at all, but …
America’s Wars by Charles Simic
Charles Simic, if known at all is usually known as a poet. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, then part of Yugoslavia, …
Jumping Puddles and Onrushing Bikes in Amsterdam
It’s said that we travel to open our eyes, stretch our minds. I wouldn’t have thought this to include adjusting …
Non Cooperation With Evil: Looking Back
An enormous human mystery that has gripped me since the day I refused to give orders and was ushered out …
Turkey: The Islands
It’s raining on the Sea of Marmara. It’s raining and cold. The warm cocoon of the ferry boat, on …
Detective Story by Imre Kertész: A Review
Imre Kertész is the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for fiction. Damn! Another well known and serious writer not …
Plows, Plagues & Petroleum: A Review
William Ruddiman , one of the early paleoclimatologists —a climate scientist who studies climate in ages past– is the father …
The Secret In Their Eyes: A Film
For a good middle of summer thriller, lower yourself into a comfortable seat, ignore the inevitable advertisements, turn off your …