Non-fiction, Religion

A. N. Wilson’s re-conversion, plus some uncharitable moralizing from me

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Our friend Rev. Paul T. McCain, Publisher at Concordia Publishing House, directs our attention to this article about novelist, biographer and former atheist A. N. Wilson, who has now embraced faith (of some sort; it seems a little vague) again.

I first became aware of Wilson some years back, when he published a critically acclaimed biography of C. S. Lewis. Fans of Lewis, and people who actually knew the man, were less enthusiastic. It was reported in the Bulletin of the New York C. S. Lewis Society that Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham was considering suing Wilson on behalf of the estate.

As it turned out, Wilson was losing his Christian faith precisely during the period when he was writing that book. And now he’s got it back. Continue reading A. N. Wilson’s re-conversion, plus some uncharitable moralizing from me →

Poetry

From fairest creatures we desire increase

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From fairest creatures we desire increase

That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,

But as the riper should by time decease,

His tender heir might bear his memory:

But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,

Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,

Making a famine where abundance lies,

Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.

Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament

And only herald to the gaudy spring,

Within thine own bud buriest thy content,

And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.

Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1

Uncategorized

My deliverance is at hand!

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Scientists have developed a chocolate inhaler–pure chocolate taste with no calories, according to the designers.

Best not to stand between me and the counter when this comes on the market.

(Tip: Conservative Grapevine.)

Goofing

Unreliable News: Hollywood to Remake “Singin’ in the Rain”

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Dateline Hollywood: Controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone announced today his plans to direct a remake of the classic film musical, “Singin’ in the Rain.”

“Whenever there are tough economic times,” said Stone, “Americans long for uplifting, positive entertainment. I think the time is right for a re-examination of the story of early Hollywood, as imagined in this classic film.

“Of course we’ll approach the project with a modern sensibility. We won’t turn a blind eye to the systematic racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia that have made America a hell on earth from the very beginning. But we’ll do it in a laughing, lighthearted way.”

Early buzz reports that George Clooney is considering the Gene Kelly role, while Madonna has agreed to take over for Debbie Reynolds, and Sean Penn will fill the dancing shoes of Donald O’Connor.



(Note: all of the above is a gag.)

Bookselling, Fiction, Non-fiction

School Library Journal Battle of Books

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The School Library Journal is talking up sixteen of last year’s best juvenile books in a type of book-on-book row, judged by fifteen authors of such books. I assume all conflicts of interest have been mitigated. Two of the matches have been judged so far. The Journal copied their idea from The Morning News, which has done a book battle for a few years.

Author and book battle judge Roger Sutton notes, “Much as we might wish it, books ain’t basketball. The thing about March Madness, which I only dimly comprehend after watching the last ten minutes of Michigan State over Connecticut, is that everybody is playing the same game. So not so with books, but given that proviso, let’s begin.”

Fair enough.

Bookselling

Klavan scores again!

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Does just one black character make the whole novel black or is there a special section for mulatto novels with characters of both colors? And if all the novels about black people are in the black section, does that make the Literature section the white section? Why don’t we call it that then? I’m confused.

Read the whole thing here.

Bookselling

Tax Protest Parties Spur Product Sales

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Rally for those that think Stimulus Act is wrong action

“Online retailers are recording hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales of mugs and sweats, buttons and bumper stickers, with much of the proceeds going toward organizing the tax-day tea parties, takeoffs on the original 1773 protest of British taxes,” reports Fox News. The head of Patriot Depot, Jay Taylor, says they’ve been so busy, he doesn’t know what their profit is.

Taylor is partnering with the Augusta, Ga.-based Reagan.org to send tens of thousands of tea bags north to Washington for a massive tax day tea dump. Though Reagan.org is asking for about $1 per bag, they estimate they’ll end up losing money in the transaction.

“What we figure is that we’ll probably end up losing a little bit of money on it,” said Joshua Bolin, executive director of Reagan.org, who told FOXNews.com that his organization accepted requests to send 30,000 tea bags packing in just the first two days of its promotion.

Now, can I brew you a cup of tea?

Book Reviews, Creative Culture