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- “We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.” — Louise Glück
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- “After all, when God created Adam and Eve, they were stark naked. And in the Garden of Eden, God was probably naked as a jaybird too!” — Bettie Page
- “There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” — Charlotte Brontë
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Category Archives: Books
“Sometimes I think no matter how one is born, no matter how one acts, there is something out of gear with one somewhere, and that must be changed. Life at its best is a grand corrective.” –Jessie Redmon Fauset
“Better the wound forever seeking balm Than this gray calm!” –Jessie Redmon Fauset, from “Dead Fires” Jessie Redmon Fauset, whose birthday it is today, was a “forgotten writer” for many years, after her heyday in the 20s and 30s. Her … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Anne Spencer, Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, poetry
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“I’ve had my best times trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I’ve always loved high style in low company.” — Anita Loos
Anita Loos’ screenwriting credits are so extensive it’s impossible to absorb them. She’s most well-known for writing the book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was made into a successful movie a couple of times – first in 1928 and then again … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Movies, On This Day, writers
8 Comments
“We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.” — Louise Glück
It’s her birthday today. Louise Glück’s poetry sometimes hurts, touching wounds or fears and dreads so deep you don’t want to acknowledge they even exist. It feels like these things might overwhelm you if you give them any space. Glück … Continue reading
“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” — Charlotte Brontë
“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.” — Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë was born on this day, in 1816. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Camille Paglia, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Jane Eyre, Jeanette Winterson, L.M. Montgomery, Michael Schmidt, Villette
5 Comments
“Good acting is thinking in front of the camera. I just do that and apply a sense of humor to it. You have to trust the audience to get it.” — Charles Grodin
It’s Charles Grodin’s birthday today. Here is a re-post of the piece I wrote when Charles Grodin died in 2021. Heartbreak Kid. Ishtar. Heaven Can Wait. Midnight Run. Muppet Caper. Rosemary’s Baby. Seems Like Old Times (not as well-known, but … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Actors Studio, Charles Grodin, Memoirs
10 Comments
“The only cause I espouse is man’s right to find his own centre, stand firm, speak out, then be kind.” — Michael Davitt, “Dissenter”
Save your breath, Poem maker Keep it under wraps In the tall tree of yourself — Michael Davitt Both quotes above are English translations of the original Irish language versions, just to be clear. Poet Michael Davitt, born (on this … Continue reading
“Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
”I’ve always been much influenced by the 17th-century metaphysical poets like Donne, and especially Henry Vaughan.” — Philip K. Dick It’s Henry Vaughan’s birthday today. I was just thinking the other day about how I encountered certain famous writers in … Continue reading
“Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
“As a writer, I am always trying to get past abstraction, the world of ideas, and putting actual objects in my writing — paintings, photographs — really helps with that. They’re beautiful tools with which to think.” — Olivia Laing … Continue reading
“Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
Joan Acocella, longtime dance critic for The New Yorker, and regular contributor to the New York Review of Books died in 2024 at the age of 78, and I did not mark her passing. It’s her birthday today. Acocella brought … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged ballet, Bob Fosse, dance, Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, Joan Acocella, Martha Graham, Nureyev, Primo Levi
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“I trust contrariness. I simply rebelled at being commanded.” — Seamus Heaney
It’s his birthday today. Jean and I went to visit Siobhan in Ireland. Siobhan was in school, so while she was in classes Jean and I rented a car and drove across the country to Galway, and other Western points. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, Personal, writers
Tagged Belfast, Ireland, Irish poetry, poetry, Seamus Heaney
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