Reading Wodehouse

Everyone should read some Wodehouse.  But, P.G. Wodehouse wrote more than one-hundred books, so where should one start?  In A Students Guided to Liberal Learning James V. Schall recommends three Wodehouse titles on “how sanity and wit belong together; 1) Leave It To Psmith 2) Blandings Castle and Elsewhere 3) How Right You Are, Jeeves What is your favorite Wodehouse work?  Read More →

Notes Left Behind by Elena Desserich

(click on image) When was the last time you hugged the 5-year old in your life? You will rush to do so after hearing the story of Elena Desserich. At the age of five she was diagnosed with with inoperable brain cancer. She died a little more than two years ago, but her parents and sister continue to find hundreds of notes that Elena left behind. After learning of her disease Elena gave herself fully... [Read more]

Women’s Literary Firsts

. The following excerpt is taken from the book The Natural Superiority of Women, by Ashley Montagu. “Women have many firsts as innovators in literature.  Thus Marie of France, who flourished during the latter half of the twelfth century, is said to have invented the genre known as the Breton lay.  Dame Juliana of Norwich wrote the earliest mystical prose autobiography (1342), and Dame Juliana... [Read more]

Ten Most Influential Books Of All Time

. What are the ten most influential books of all time? Tough question … Horace Shipp published Books That Moved the World in which he listed the following ten titles. The Bible The Republic (Plato) City of God (St. Augustine) The Koran The Divine Comedy (Dante) The Plays of Shakespeare Pilgrim’s Progress (Bunyan) Areopagitica (Milton) The Origin of the Species (Darwin) Das Kapital (Marx) How... [Read more]

Books That Shaped The Contemporary American Mind

What books have had the most impact in shaping the contemporary American mind? In 1939 Malcolm Cowley and Bernard Smith polled American educators, historians, critics, lecturers, and publicists on this subject. Following is the list of twelve titles which were most prominent. The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud) The Education of Henry Adams (Adams) The Frontier in American History (Turner) FOLKWAYS:... [Read more]