Category Archives: General

Thirty Years Ago

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Fred Bubbers

A typical scene.  College guys sitting in their dorm watching Monday Night Football.  Mohlson’s Golden Ale. Doritos.  Lots of cross-talk.  Somebody said, “Hold on, something’s happening.”  I hung on every word, and every word lasted an eternity,  hoping it would … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , | Comments Off

The Art of the Novella: First Love by Ivan Turgenev

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Fred Bubbers

In the late 1850′s, three wealthy Russians have supper at the home of one of the men.  After the plates are cleared away and the middle-aged gentlemen are enjoying cigars, they trade stories of their first loves.  Two of them … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

On Memory and Fiction

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Fred Bubbers

In part four of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, aging author Briony Tallis is revealed to be the author of the novel that comprises the previous three sections of the book.  She is dying of vascular dementia, and that this, her last … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Best of Times, Worst of Times

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Fred Bubbers

A couple of weeks ago, my day-job required me to fly to Chicago for a day to attend a meeting.  I’d been to Chicago on business a couple of times before, but on those trips I was visiting companies that … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Shackles, Chains, and Canon

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Fred Bubbers

In his essay, “In Praise of Dead White Men,” Lindsay Johns argues that efforts to make education more “relevant” to black people can be both patronizing and harmful, and that western literary canon should be taught to everyone.  While I … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | Comments Off