Tag Archive for ‘Don’t Know Much About Literature’
Joyce, Jesus, Goddesses & Groundhogs
Today is an auspicious date on the literary and liturgical calendars. James Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882.
On top of that it Candlemas and Groundhog Day.
Don’t Know Much About® Jack London
You probably remember Jack London for his tales of dogs in the Alaskan wilderness. But London was also caught up in a protest movement called “Coxey’s Army,” the “Occupy Wall Street” of the 1890s.
More Christmas Myths: Why 12 Days?
One of the specific ways that Solstice celebrations from ancient times are still remembered is by the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Don’t Know Much About Salman Rushdie
On today’s date, August 15, in 1947, at midnight, India and Pakistan were born. The partition of mostly Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan created decades of war and mistrust. But that moment also opens Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie’s fabulous 1981 novel and one of the great books of our times –a tale of a boy [...]
Bloomsday (2011)
“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan. . .” With those words, James Joyce (February 2, 1882-January 13, 1941) opened Ulysses, chosen in 1999 as the greatest novel of the 20th century by the Modern Library. The novel follows Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus on their wanderings through Dublin on a single day –June 16 1904. That makes [...]
“Beam me IN, Scotty” –Library Visits with Author Kenneth C. Davis
AN OPEN LETTER TO LIBRARIANS— “BEAM ME IN, SCOTTY!” Apologies to Captain Kirk and Star Trek. I know it’s really, “Beam me UP, Scotty.” For more than 20 years, I have been traveling the country to visit libraries, bookstores, museums, schools and librarian conferences to share my love for history, geography and all the subjects [...]
Happy Birthday, Harper Lee
Born April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama –Nelle Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. If you only publish one book, may as well make it a good one. For Harper Lee it was To Kill A Mockingbird (1960), the story of Scout Finch, a girl growing up in a small Southern town. Scout [...]
Don’t Know Much About® Poetic Last Lines
It’s the final week of National Poetry Month. So fittingly, here’s a Pop Quiz on some notable closing lines of poems. “Nevermore!” It might be difficult to end a poem on a more dramatic note than Edgar Allen Poe did in “The Raven.” Can you name the poets who created these ending lines? Bonus [...]
