An Episode of Grace is a collection of short stories by Linda McCullough Moore. The title of the collection is apt. Yes, one of the stories bears the same name, but really every story in the collection could have that title. The stories present an interesting way to think about life. It seems obvious to think of our lives as akin to a novel. There was a beginning, someday there will be an end, and we spend our lives working out the middle. The events of our lives are all part of the … [Read more...] about Episodes of Grace
Life Advice
Reading For Pleasure
Reading is the only hobby in which the act of reading about the hobby is engaging in the hobby. As a result, books about reading are always intriguing to those who like to read. Consider Alan Jacob’s The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. It is a charming book, full of wit and insight. If you like reading, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy it as much as I did. But (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?), there is a thread to Jacobs’ argument that seriously annoyed … [Read more...] about Reading For Pleasure
How to Love Your Neighbor
In Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut demonstrated the absolute absurdity of everything, that the world is just one meaningless act after another. (A review of Cat's Cradle is here.) What then? His next novel presented a challenge. Does he simply double down on the meaninglessness of everything or is there some way out of this trap? That novel was God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Vonnegut’s universe is still meaningless. But, a meaningless universe creates a … [Read more...] about How to Love Your Neighbor
Embracing Your Inner Psmith
It comes to all of us in the end. The school years finish. Done. Finding ourselves poised at that moment between the rolling years of school and the endless plains of the Rest of Life, what book should we read, dear Comrade? What book sets forth the stark choices facing us all at that moment? P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City. Mike and Psmith (“There is a preliminary P before the name. This, however, is silent. Like the tomb. Compare such words as ptarmigan, psalm, and … [Read more...] about Embracing Your Inner Psmith
How to Convince Students to Read?
A while back, I discussed Mark Edmundson’s Why Teach? In Defense of a Real Education. As I noted in the review, I didn’t learn much reading his book. But in a strange way, it sure inspired me. It was one of those books which frequently made me pause and think. Why Teach? Why am I a Teacher? What is my goal? Teaching, really teaching, in the modern college is tough. Very tough. I love my students. I really do. But, truth be told, and it is not … [Read more...] about How to Convince Students to Read?
The Way or The Great Game?
At one level, Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, is a rollicking adventure story of an Irish orphan growing up on the streets of India during the British Raj. At another level, it is a deep refection on choosing the purpose of your life. It is this second level that makes this book worth reading (and rereading). One of those Big Questions which I have spent innumerable pleasurable hours talking about with students is: "What should I do with my life?" College is the first time most students have ever … [Read more...] about The Way or The Great Game?