Dorothy Johnson has written several books related to David and the Neoclassicists. David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology is probably her best work. I think about this little book a lot. Even though the Neoclassicists are best known for their Classically-inspired history paintings, Johnson reminds us that it was under their brush that…
I recently listened to the audio version of the detective novel The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith. Galbraith is the pen name used by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. This novel is the 6th and latest in this series for adults. In these novels, Galbraith chronicles the adventures of Cormoran Strike’s London-based detective…
I recently read Dan Chaon’s 2017 thriller, Ill Will. This is my first book by this author, which reinforces my resolve to ignore online reviews. Can it be that they’re all fake? These days I’ve replaced my Kindle Oasis with a Kobo Libre 2. I reviewed the Kindle and I’ll provide a review of the…
I am in the midst of another fiction-consuming binge. When I tire of listening to podcasts I fire up an audio book. Between listening to books and reading them with my Kobo e-Reader, I go through a lot of books. The fantasy novel Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen Donaldson is the first book in the…
I recently finished the science-fiction trilogy The Remembrance of Earth’s Past, by Chinese author Cixin Liu. The first and most well know book in the series is The Three-Body Problem. The team that produced The Game of Thrones is making a Netflix series about the trilogy so you’ll probably learn about the series soon if…
People who are out of step with the prevailing authority practice ketman to avoid trouble. Ketman is a way to dissemble. At a minimum people practicing ketman must self-censor their speech. When silence isn’t enough, ketman-practitioners find ways to appear to actively support the regime. When ketman-practitioners cannot escape the oppressive regime, they develop ways…
Thomas Crow is an American art historian. For a short time, his interests overlapped with mine, which is how I became aware of him. Some readers might know that I am a fan of the French artist J.L David. Early in his career, Crow wrote a book focused on David and his circle, Emulation: Making…
The book’s complete title is 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed. The book addresses the mysterious collapse of the Iron Age civilization. The author, Eric Cline, claims that recent findings prompted him to update his book that was originally published in 2014. I am reviewing the Audible version. If you’re asking “What is the Iron…