Sherry
The Decameron
Giovanni Boccaccio’s book, is truly a delight and one of best works of fiction of that time period certainly. Written in the 1350’s and about the plague then threatening Europe, Boccaccio has his characters leave Florence in search of safety in the country of Tuscany. There, there seven women and three men, take turns “being […]
We Moved
For those that care, I’ve moved to http://writerden.blogspot.com. WordPress just would not leave the editor alone, constantly changing the format and making it harder in my opinion to move around. The old posts here will remain…all further ones will be at the new site.
Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence
Karen Armstrong is an extremely well-known and prolific writer on religious matters. This is a great book, and one that all should read. If you talk to any atheist for more than a minute or two you will surely hear the refrain: “more have died in the cause of religion than for any other reason. […]
Lord of the Flies
This is another in my ongoing series of “going back and reading all the classic literature I never read in my youth”. Lord of the Rings is surely a classic, and one well-known to most people whether they have read it or not. Many have seen the film versions. I too was well aware of […]
Race Matters
First, I have to say that Cornel West is one of my heroes. He’s what I would be if I could–a brilliant thinker, writer, and activist. Philosopher and professor, writer of so many important books, this is considered one of his seminal works. Dr. West makes himself a target no doubt for a number of […]
To Kill a Mockingbird
Back in ancient times, I was about to graduate from high school. I had obtained, through what means I no longer remember, a pamphlet (as I recall) entitled something to this effect: “Books everyone should have read before they attend college.” Since I was headed to college in the fall, I set about reading what […]
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
Julian Jaynes book created a stir when it came out in 1976. That has essentially not changed. It remains controversial but most agree that at it’s worst, it has sparked investigation in several new areas that he pointed to, as well as creating an atmosphere of interdisciplinary interaction as he touches upon so contributing factors […]
Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance
This is one of many of Noam Chomsky’s works, this written in 2003.While it precedes much of the Iranian war obviously, it strikes a note that reinforces what we have come to know as the history of that fiasco. Noam Chomsky is professor of linguistics and philosophy at MIT. His research is impeccable and exhausting […]
Between the World and Me
In college I read Baldwin, Fanon, Malcolm, DuBois and of course King. In my legal career, I worked much of it under African-American men and women within my own office and in the court system. I thought I had a handle on racism in this country. Ta-Nehisi Coates taught me otherwise. Mr. Coates ostensibly writes […]
What is God?
An interesting premise no? Not who is God but what is God? John Haught begins immediately to take you from your comfort zone, from the words and phrases we so casually use in reference to God–to the way in which we visualize, speak of and think of God. He grabs some of the most well-known […]
Extraordinary Words 