Category Archives: Authors

Authors, Fiction, Publishing

New Books by Dead Authors

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Slate’s Juliet Lapidos reports she has read the unauthorized sequel to Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and that we needn’t bother with it. “California’s allusions contain little charm, but his original material is far worse,” she says.

That isn’t really a book from a dead author. In fact, Salinger isn’t dead and doesn’t like the book. But a real dead author has a new book coming. An unfinished work by Graham Greene, newly discovered at the author’s archive in the University of Texas, will be released in The Strand as a serial, and someone is to be commissioned to write the ending. The Strand has published other lost works previously. (via ArtsJournal)

Authors

Writer Inspired by Bush and U.S. Wars

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Tariq Ali is writing non-fiction again because recent history is so fascinating to him. “We are in a world which is very obsessed with individuals, celebrity culture,” Ali told Reuters. “The mistake is to think of the President of the United States as a celebrity.”

That’s a good observation, but note the incredible statement about presidents and Caesars which follows it. It’s ridiculous statements like Bush is similar to Caligula that make many of us disbelieve many modern opinion writers.

Authors, Religion

John Calvin at 500

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July 10, 2009, is the 500th celebration of the birth of John Calvin (also the second annual Hug a Calvinist Day). Calvin gave the people of God an understand of Scripture they could not get from their church leaders and tore down the idea that life was divided between sacred and secular living. Many of his day held the belief that vulgar living, by which I mean common living like milking cows, raising children, trading in the market, and building your home, is not interesting to God. The Lord of creation is only concerned with his worship, prayer, giving to his church, and service in his name. But this distinction is not a true one, and understanding Scripture in one’s first language helps clarify that.

Of course, Martin Luther helped clarify this too.

But in honor of Calvin’s birthday, you can listen to interviews and browse the blogs for tributes. If you have a post on Calvin on your blog today, give us link in the thread.

Here’s an interesting article from the BBC: “Hard work and frugality, the values espoused by Calvinism, are back in fashion as people reassess their lives because of the economic crisis.” And here’s a video on how Calvin’s teaching has influenced World magazine.

Authors

In Defense of Shakespeare’s Christianity

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Leland Ryken rejoices to find Christian allusions galore in Shakespeare’s writing. “[S]cholars who are attuned to the Christian element in Shakespeare’s plays correctly observe that there is sometimes a gratuitous element in Shakespeare’s Christian allusions, meaning that Shakespeare incorporates Christian references beyond what seem to be strictly required by the context.”

Does that mean the great bard was a genuine believer? No, but he had a fairly Christian mind in his writing.

“The world that Shakespeare creates in As You Like It is approximately the same as the religiously-saturated world of the farms around Pella, Iowa, on which I was raised. While a writer can create a Christian world only to mock it, Shakespeare adopts a sympathetic stance to what he portrays in As You Like It.”

Authors, Poetry

Poet Donald Hall

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Books, Inq. has an interesting interview with a poet Donald Hall. Near the beginning of the 38 minute recording, Hall talks about a teacher who ridiculed his poetry for a full class period, and though he cried about it afterward, Hall determined to spend twice the time on his poetry as he had before.

Authors, Non-fiction

Gov. Palin to Write Memoir

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There’s a book in the works from Gov. Sarah Palin to describe her life in Alaska and her experiences in presidential politics. She will be writing the book herself, working with a more experienced co-author. As far as I know, the co-author will not be Franklin Graham, pictured with Mrs. Palin below.

Sarah Palin