Recently, the blog Brain Pickings wrote a piece titled "The Greatest Books of All Time, as Voted by 125 Famous Authors." Well, apparently none of these "famous authors" consulted some of the people who had previously commented on their selections at Amazon.com. Here is a sampling of their....err.... opinions.... 1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov "I…
Read More "Top Ten Classics Dissed: Amazon Commenters Fight Back!"
The masterful short story author Flannery O'Connor once gave a lecture at Wesleyan College. Afterwards, during a question and answer session, O'Connor recalls that one of the young teachers there...an earnest type, started asking the questions. “Miss O’Connor,” he said, “why was the Misfit’s hat black?” I said most countrymen in Georgia wore black hats.…
I understand that young people often use the word "like" as a sort of placeholder; that is, a way to pause briefly before carrying on with their thoughts. While I know I am not the first person to rail against the overuse of "like," I still believe it is worth pointing out to students how…
When the masses first realized the power and reach of the Internet, it was a bit like the fences being torn down at Woodstock. They weren't very effective anyway, but once they were down, everyone, the dirty, the silly, the outrageous, and the dull stormed into the mudpit. In the days before the Internet, it…
Read More "Talkin’ About a… Revolution? The Love/Hate Relationship with Writers and the Internet"
Over the past several months, there has been much talk about how teachers make a heck of a lot of money. I read and listened to several of these reports as I waited for the water to boil for my ramen noodles. This week, the Chronicle of Higher Education released data showing the average salaries…
Read More "Rolling in the Big Bucks! (Just Kidding) A Snapshot of Academic Salaries"
Some of the hottest gifts this past Christmas were e-readers: Kindles, Nooks, iPhones, and iPads. The industry expected sales of e-texts to soar and they were not disappointed. In fact, the Association of American Publishers reports that sales took a mighty jump, up an estimated 115.8% in the month of January, and generated some $69.9…
If you were to go back to the old copies of the novels and plays I still rely upon—To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet—to do my daily teaching, you would see all sorts of scribbled notes in different colored pens. You would see highlighters in every color imaginable. You would see small pieces…
