For a long time now I’ve been saying that the readers of the world have to step up and defend the value of the written word. Don’t be didactic, but by all means, be a little bit elitist. When your friends start talking about Dancing with the Stars, talk about a book or magazine article …
In The Atlantic, Jared Keller has assembled a rather brainy slide show–a collection of literary references in The Simpsons. Many of my favorites are here, including Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chambon, George Plimpton, Gore Vidal, Robert Caro, The New Yorker, Tom Wolfe, The Economist, and William L. Shirer.Somehow Keller missed the episde in which Lisa …
According to an article in today’s Guardian, newly released records show that the light and fluffy British novelist P.G. Wodehouse was questioned by MI5 as a suspected German collaborator for broadcasting from Berlin during World War II. A shocked Wodehouse denied the accusation. Wodehouse was 59 years old and living in France when war broke …
I had the great pleasure of talking about And the War Came with Jim Fuller and his friend Bill Walker on WOUB radio in Athens, Ohio. Jim and Bill are very knowledgeable about the Civil War, and it was very rewarding to talk with people who are so well informed and so thoughtful about the …
For the past few months I’ve been very fortunate to be working with Henry Bushkin, an attorney from Los Angeles who for nearly two decades represented the peerless Johnny Carson. (Yes, Henry is the famous `Bombastic Bushkin’ who showed up in Johnny’s monologues with some frequency.) Henry and I do not get to talk face-to-face …
Mr. Media, a/k/a the charming Bob Andelman, recently interviewed me for his radio program/podcast/column, and we had a delightful time talking about not only And the War Came, but also bygone days at Spy and Playboy. It was a lot of fun. Anyone who would like to listen to the program can find it here. …
Congratulations to my friend Lewis Burke Frumkes on the publication of his new book Favorite Words of Famous People, in which people such as Hillary Clinton, Yo-Yo Ma, Norman Mailer, Muhammad Ali, Jamie Malanowski and about 250 others discuss their favorite words. ( I know, I know: how the hell did I end up in …
Yes, that’s me in The Daily Briarcliff today, shown standing in Law Park, talking about And the War Came. Thanks to Tien-Shun Lee for a terrific article. To see it in its entirity, click here.
David Brooks has been a great columnist for The New York Times because he has always conducted himself like a decent guy. Intelligent, prudent, even-handed, he spends a lot of time giving the other fellow his due, in the obvious belief that he ought to behav in an earnest, high-minded, intelligent way because that is …
And the War Came received an excellent write-up in Michael Humphrey‘s blog Techno-Tainers on Forbes.com: “Byliner’s third Original, “And the War Came,” marches readers chronologically from just before Abraham’s Lincoln’s election to the doorstep of war. We arrive byway of every imaginable thought direction – the passionate abolitionist and adamant slavery defender, the brave-savvy leader …