Monthly Archives: December 2013

Here are some of my favorite non-fiction books from this year (meaning, of course, that I read them this year—some have been around for a while).  None of them transformed my world a la the 1982 Baseball Abstract, but all … Continue reading →

A couple of years ago I was asked to recommend fantasy books for a 13-year-old.  It happens that I’ve read a lot of speculative fiction this year, some of it officially “Young Adult” and much of the rest featuring young … Continue reading →

In the introduction to The Examined Life, Stanley Rosen explains why philosophy cannot be reduced to science.  I have no great desire to reduce philosophy to science, indeed I am not inclined to join any kind of disciplinary border patrol, … Continue reading →

I recently mentioned to a friend that I had been reading Joan Didion’s memoirs about the loss of her husband and her only child, The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights.  “Have you seen a picture of her lately? … Continue reading →