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Julian Barnes, on his birthday January 19  2026 revision

     Absurdist Existentialism wrapped in confections of postmodernist satire, relativistic values, theatrical techniques, irony as well as the iron machinery of historical determinism, Julian Barnes offers visions of revolutionary change which transform as they unpack, self destruct, critique and consume themselves. Most of the time his nihilistic self mocking is witty and fun.      A … Continue reading Julian Barnes, on his birthday January 19  2026 revision

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American Poetry 2022 edition

American Poetry      The Language of Life, Bill Moyers ed.      Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself, Jerome Loving Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song, Jim Perlman (Editor)      The Poetry of Robert Frost, Robert Frost, Latham ed  Robert Frost: A Life, Jay Parini      The Complete Poems of … Continue reading American Poetry 2022 edition

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Jay’s Revised Modern Canon Modern American Literature 2022 Revision

                                            Fiction      The Daemon Knows: Literary Greatness and the American Sublime, Harold Bloom      Tender Buttons, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Everybody’s Autobiography, Paris France, Picasso, How to Write, History of Messages from History, A Primer for the Gradual Understanding of Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein Reading Gertrude Stein: Body, Text, Gnosis, Lisa … Continue reading Jay’s Revised Modern Canon Modern American Literature 2022 Revision

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Susan Sontag, on her birthday January 16  2026 revision

     “The point is not to teach us something in particular. The point is to make us bold, agile, subtle, intelligent, detached. And to give pleasure.”  Susan Sontag      One unforgettable afternoon, as a young university student lingering in museum, I found myself standing before an incomprehensible painting lost in thought when I became aware … Continue reading Susan Sontag, on her birthday January 16  2026 revision

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Edmund White, on his birthday January 13  2026 revision

     Fearless, empathetic, of refined and elegant prose, heir to the European belles lettres tradition, beloved for his compelling autobiographies and his glittering, insightful literary criticism, Edmund White has polished and made beautiful our lives by the invocations of his words.       His fame was won on the stunning power and lyrical beauty of his … Continue reading Edmund White, on his birthday January 13  2026 revision

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Haruki Murakami, on his birthday January 12 2026 revision

     Strange Library, 1Q84, & Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World- who could deprive themselves of the compelling, illuminating, disturbing world of his great works after reading those first pages?      Here are stories of existential dread, authenticity and other Sartrean themes, the mysteries of time, Surrealist dreamquests, the illusions of reality and … Continue reading Haruki Murakami, on his birthday January 12 2026 revision

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     Jay’s Revised Canon 2021 Edition Feminist thought and Women’s History and Literature:

                                           Feminism as a Subject      Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, by bell hooks is wonderful and engaging, and the first book I would recommend to a high school student or anyone new to the subject. Thereafter read her other works; Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, Feminist Theory: From Margin to … Continue reading      Jay’s Revised Canon 2021 Edition Feminist thought and Women’s History and Literature:

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  Robert Duncan, on his birthday January 7  2026 revision

    Poet, mystic, champion of human and LGBT rights, and anarchist, Robert Duncan sought to forge through language a grammar of cosmic design and its possibilities for becoming human.      He wrote the groundbreaking 1944 essay The Homosexual in Society, 25 years before Stonewall, in which he compares historically oppressed minorities who are violently excluded … Continue reading   Robert Duncan, on his birthday January 7  2026 revision

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Umberto Eco, on his birthday January 5  2026 revision

     Umberto Eco is my Ideal of a scholar; I celebrate his endless curiosity, unbiased questioning, deep reflectivity and self-awareness, empathy, and the playfulness and humor with which he shifts the boundaries of knowledge and reveals the hidden connections of things.      What insights, what language! Come with me and explore the glittering diaphanous folds … Continue reading Umberto Eco, on his birthday January 5  2026 revision