Hello and welcome to September. Autumn blessings to all. A recent death went largely unreported. There was no outpouring of grief. No endless video loops in the network news feeds. It went unnoticed because it was a death that had been slow and arduous, occurring over the last 20...
It’s August 1st, and that means a new edition of my paranormal column, Across the Great Divide! This time around I discuss the new horror movie, The Conjuring. There’s always a suspicious rift between what is real and what is fantasy when it comes to films based on actual events;...
Over Memorial Day weekend I visited Chicago for the first time and had a lot of fun. My girlfriend and I stayed with a friend and cataloged some of our adventures. Witness Chicago as seen through the eyes of a Wolf.
Some label it as historical romance; while others argue that it doesn’t have all of the required elements, thus making it simply an historical novel- but all would agree that the 1936 work by Margaret Mitchell is one of the quintessential works of American literature. However, as one has...
When someone mentions The Wizard of Oz many no doubt imagine families gathered around the television to share in the full-color glory of this timeless classic; but did you know that the book that the beloved movie is adapted from has been in the sights of censors since it...
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is an autobiographical memoir of Walls’ and her siblings’ unconventional and poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of deeply dysfunctional parents. The book, published in 2005, pulls on the heartstrings of readers with its resonating and poignant topics; but the parents of a student...
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is considered one of the “Great American Novels” and a literary classic- the Modern Library, for example, ranks it as the second best English-language novel of the 20th Century. However, as one might expect, this literary cornerstone is also a commonly challenged book,...
Published in 1862 amid a massive advertising campaign and at a time when Hugo was adored as one of France’s foremost poets the release of the novel was a highly anticipated event. Critical reactions were often negative, though, as some critics found the subject matter immoral and others complained...
A little over one week from now will be the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, the bibliophile’s annual celebration of the freedom to read, which this year takes place from September 30-October 6, 2012. Sometimes we forget in our daily struggles just how important our intellectual freedom...
Literature dealing with hot-button topics such as AIDS and child abuse are okay for classroom use- so long as those works have happy endings, at least according to the administrative board of the Fremont Unified School District in California. The board has approved other books with sensitive topics in...