ARMCHAIR TRAVELER
The celebrated English author G.K. Chesterton traveled around the U.S. on a lecture tour in 1921. The farther he traveled, the more he saw to like, despite Prohibition.
Allen Barra writes about books and film for Truthdig, the Atlantic, The Daily Beast, the Guardian, Salon, and the New Republic. He was recently cited by the National Arts and Journalism Awards for literary and film criticism. He has written about sports for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and Sports Illustrated. HIs book Mickey and Willie: The Parallel Lives of the Golden Age of Baseball was nominated for a PEN/ESPN award for literary sportswriting.
STAR CROSSED
Patrick Kavanagh wrote a poem about his unrequited love that became the popular song “On Raglan Road,” which in turn helped make Kavanagh perhaps Ireland’s most famous poet.
BETTER ANGEL
Biographer Sidney Blumenthal talks to The Daily Beast about a pre-Civil War America where Jefferson Davis demanded both Lincoln and Douglas be lynched.
BIG MEH
The literary and social critic’s magnum opus, ‘Sexual Personae,’ landed like a bombshell. Her latest collection lands with a thud.
BLOAT
He never goes out of print. He’s still taught in schools. But most of his novels look more ponderous and posturing (silly, even) with each passing year. Ah, but those stories.
EMPTY SUIT
Conservatives pay lip service to the Party of Lincoln, but their contemporary icon is Reagan, or the idea of Reagan, which is a definite upgrade on the real man.
HOT AND COLD
The stories of his selfishness, snobbery, and utter lack of personal loyalty are legion, but they cannot overshadow—nor ultimately detract from—his profound literary achievements.
TRUE LIT
The Arkansas novelist’s classic tale turns 50 this year and looks as fresh and funny as the day it was published. If this is not a great American novel, we don't know what is.
SNATCH AND GRAB
US relations with Mexico are chilly these days, but what else is new? The US has abused its neighbor for most of two centuries, including one of the biggest land grabs in history.
Le Loup
François Villon liked to run with Parisian crooks and low-lifes—but his poetry influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Bertold Brecht.
