The tomb of Galla Placide from the outside. one of the ancient churches from the outside. Dante's tomb is also in Ravenna. This isn't it. and Byron liked to hang out here too.
I have enjoyed Munteanu's fiction , so I was happy when she gave me the chance to read her book on writing. I found it a useful practical guide full of tips and links that any writer focusing on craft should remember. Even if it isn't saying anything particularly new, what it does say is worth repeating, and is rarely said in such succinct form. It is also nice that it has some emphasis on ...
The Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great was a pretty fascinating guy. Although often blamed for helping destroy the Western Roman Empire, our guidebook dryly noted that part of why the Italians hated him was that he stopped them from destroying their ancient sites in order to mine material for making roads. His tomb was a wild and lonely place, and really worth the extra walk from the center ...
Nicholas Ray has long been one of my favorite directors, with They Live By Night my favorite film. I have been carrying around this book of essays and class notes since graduate school. At that time, I read in the volume out of order-- jumping from chapter to chapter to find the pieces holding the most interest for me. So this is the first time that I sat down and read the book cover to ...
(Available at Google Books , if you're interested.) John Burroughs was an American essayist. Wikipedia describes him as a "literary naturalist". He met Walt Whitman during the Civil War, and this little book serves two purposes. It is a meditation on Leaves of Grass as well as a memoir of that friendship. Amazon tells me that it was the first biographical sketch of the author. I can't ...
On the twelfth day of Christmas, frumiousb sent to me... Twelve found letters drumming Eleven christmas cookies piping Ten go-betweens a-leaping Nine pataphysics dancing Eight readymades a-milking Seven crusades a-walking Six pilgrimages a-franchising Five dre-e-e-eam analysis Four spike jones Three found objects Two new houses ...and a borneo in a rrose selavy. Get your own...
In case you're wondering if it's worth a trip to Ravenna just to see the ancient mosaics, I have to say that it really is. My pictures don't do them justice, but when I first laid eyes on the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, for instance, it really felt like someone poured cold water down my back. In a good way, mind you. you can't really see it, but the ...
illustration from my edition (Spencer Press-- World's Greatest Literature series) Lew Wallace was actually a pretty interesting guy. He was a lawyer, a Civil War Union General, and Governor for the New Mexico Territory. In terms of cultural history, Ben-Hur is actually a pretty interesting book. Wikipedia tells me that until 1936 (when Gone With the Wind was released) it was the best ...
