Missive #632 Published 5 January 2026
This book reads somewhat like a collection of short stories yet some of them have ties to others. Interesting. I may try some of her other books when I clear my reading list a bit.
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Missive #630 Published 3 January 2026
The Culture of Narcissism is a critical examination of American society, particularly during the late 1970s, authored by Christopher Lasch. The book posits that the American character was shifting from an individualistic mindset, which once emphasized personal achievement and societal contribution, to a more self-absorbed and narcissistic personality. Lasch identifies key traits of this new narcissistic individual, including a heavy reliance on external validation, emotional dependence on expert advice, and an inability to confront personal or societal issues independently. He argues that this shift resulted in a pervasive sense of unease and emptiness, as individuals became increasingly disconnected from their own moral authority and reliant on bureaucratic solutions to personal problems.
Missive #627 Published 31 December 2025
Nearly half a century before George Orwell wrote 1984, G.K. Chesterton wrote The Napoleon of Notting Hill, a futurist fantasy also set in 1984. In this startling comic novel, Chesterton conjures up a London neighborhood that has become an independent city, fond of pageantry and traditional ways, isolated by high walls from the rest of the world. When its rights and autonomy are threatened by modernizing neighbors, war breaks out. It is a war fought not with astounding new weapons, but with swords and battle-axes. It is oddly prophetic, about large nations swallowing little nations, and local communities struggling to maintain their independence from outside control. It is also a great story, with wonderful dialogue and rich, humorous characters.
Missive #626 Published 30 December 2025
I understood about half of what this sociologist, philosopher and author wrote. He does not use academic jargon very much but does footnote his writing as they always do. The hardest reading for me was his very complex and sometimes run-on sentences. Read at your own risk.
Missive #625 Published 29 December 2025
I read some books a long time ago but have forgot what they were so I'm going back and starting over. Joe Allston is a character in this book and also in All the Little Live Things which I will read next. He is also thematically and structurally linked to Angle of Repose through the shared use of an older, reflective narrator that I will read after that. Then there are a lot more to choose from.
Missive #623 Published 27 December 2025
The review that I have copied was written soon after the book was published in French. It has subsequently been published in 21 other languages but not in English. The author of the review "protests too much" in my opinion and I think that is one of the reasons it has not been translated into English. The Google translation that I read was poor but I think Todd made good points.
Missive #620 Published 24 December 2025
This is the forth book in the series with one more to read. This one is far and away more a chick book than the previous three. Very little military action or suspense and more bodice ripping. I'll read the last book in the series and then move on to the author's Wild Country series and hope that she moves toward more suspense.
Missive #619 Published 22 December 2025
This is a very interesting book. It might be a bit over the top with some of the medical and scientific terminology but is readable. Much like with the COVID jab you need not follow the science regarding saturated fats just follow the money.
Missive #616 Published 17 December 2025
Keillor leads here from his strength—humor based on a true grip on the real—in this epic of Lake Wobegon, the imaginary small Minnesota town celebrated in Keillor's weekly monologues on "Prairie Home Companion," his show on Public Radio. Keillor's fans will grab it, but word should get out to people who never heard of him: like Mark Twain, Keillor is a highly sophisticated teller of tales (his stories have appeared in The New Yorker) who gets to the essence of everyday America. There are some belly laughs in "Wobegon," many chuckles—and always the pleasure of recognition. The book casually mixes autobiographical stretches with stories about the inhabitants of the town that can't be found on the Minnesota map, along with its history and mores.
Missive #615 Published 15 December 2025
Author Gene Logsdon—whom Wendell Berry once called “the most experienced and best observer of agriculture we have”—has a notion: That it is a little easier for gardeners and farmers to accept death than the rest of the populace. Why? Because every day, farmers and gardeners help plants and animals begin life and help plants and animals end life. They are intimately attuned to the food chain. They understand how all living things are seated around a dining table, eating while being eaten. They realize that all of nature is in flux.
Gene Everlasting contains Logsdon’s reflections, by turns both humorous and heart-wrenching, on nature, death, and eternity, all from a contrary farmer’s perspective. He recounts joys and tragedies from his childhood in the 1930s and ‘40s spent on an Ohio farm, through adulthood and child-raising, all the way up to his recent bout with cancer, always with an eye toward the lessons that farming has taught him about life and its mysteries.