Today would have been Albert Camus's 100th birthday. I have had a crush on Albert Camus for a long time. C'mon... he's hot, rebellious, an intellectual, and like most artists I'm madly in love with, dead... the ultimate unattainable. Although he is often called an existentialist, Camus rejected that label ("Sartre and I are often…
Category: Books & Movies
Erudite Frights for All Hallow’s Night: Ten Spine-Tingling Lines from Literature
Here at eNotes, we would NEVER let Halloween pass without a few good scares from the masters of horror! Let's all take a break from the tedious terror of government shutdowns and 404 Errors of the new healthcare law and enjoy some scares that are a lot more fun. 1. “The shortest horror story: The…
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Remembering Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Oscar Hijuelos, Dead at 62
“Oh yes!...The sweet summons of God to man. That's when He calls you up to His arms. And it's the most beautiful thing, a rebirth, a new life. But, just the same I'm in no rush to find out.” ― Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos Oscar Hijuelos, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for his novel…
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Comes to the Silver Screen
Get ready this Christmas for an adaptation of James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Although "adaptation" might be a stretch here...
Of course, since very little actually happens in Thurber's tale, it's not totally surprising that a Hollywood film would stray far from the original. But it does look like the…
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“A Government of Wolves”: Ten Writers Sound Off
Like most of you, I am becoming more and more annoyed by the government shutdown. Yesterday, I heard a sick child will not get his weekly visit with a therapy dog because those "non-essential workers" had been "furloughed." Here are ten quotes from writers, past and present, that may help you channel and articulate your…
“The Point of Life Was to Press On”: Remembering Tom Clancy
Fans of espionage and military science novels have lost one of that genres' most popular authors. Tom Clancy has died at age 66. The cause of death has not yet been released. Here are some facts about Clancy that you may not know: Worked as an insurance salesman after attending Loyola College. Tried, but failed,…
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Writer Fight! Writer Fight! : William F. Buckley, Jr. v. Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer, that ever-so-macho author (The Armies of the Night, The Naked and the Dead) is almost as well-known for his physical fights as for his writing. He famously head-butted Gore Vidal in the green room before their mutual appearance on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Once on set, the altercation turned menacingly verbal, with Cavett getting…
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A Cheater’s Guide to the Classics
DISCLAIMER: If you are a student assigned to read any of the following classics in school, you should ABSOLUTELY read them all the way through! Not only are they classics for a reason, but that's your job as a student, and as members of the educational community we would be remiss if we didn't point…