Monthly Archives: May 2018

“My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant.”

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Kate Stover

Who would you like to begin your summer with?  This year, I choose Henry David Thoreau. His essay “Walking” celebrates the art of meandering, sauntering and getting lost in fields and woods. He is drawn to the forest, the meadow … Continue reading →

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“But what could possibly go wrong?”

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Kate Stover

Think of the funniest books you’ve ever read.  Did any of them win literary awards?  No?  As the Washington Post points out, there has long been a “critical resistance to comic novels.” Until now. The 2018 Pulitzer Prize for fiction … Continue reading →

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“I learned that the poem was made not just to exist, but to speak – to be company.”

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Kate Stover

The school year is drawing to a close now, and so for me it’s time to revisit my goals and consider the extent to which we met them.  On the top of my list is the wish that students will … Continue reading →

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“I want to be alone, but not too alone.”

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Kate Stover

I disagree with the description on the back of this book, which says that one of Jonathan Franzen’s “essential themes” is “the hidden persistence of loneliness in postmodern, imperial America.” Rather, it seems to me that in every one of … Continue reading →

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