An American Abroad
The ride up to my hotel would’ve seemed more alarming if I’d been fully awake. Later I saw the complex three-point turns and backing maneuvers that even the smallest cars had to effect to get from place to place in those narrow, ancient streets. I … [Continue reading]
Five years ago today, I changed my life. In the 19 months before that, I’d lost my marriage, my job, my home, and my gall bladder. I was on the shady side of 50 and acutely aware that the time remaining to do the things I’d dreamed of doing was … [Continue reading]
It's one of those rock lyrics I'd heard a hundred times and never understood, straight out of 1962, when a great song was one that sounded just right blasting out from the monophonic tube-powered radio speaker mounted in the center of the dashboard … [Continue reading]
Yes, Virginia, there is a Gilligan's Island. The trip began when my houseguests -- my son Spencer and his friends Kyle and Alex -- were looking for someplace interesting to go where they could see the Caribbean side of Puerto Rico. When they … [Continue reading]
Zeus, the CEO of OlympiCorp., whose memos are scorching, summons his staff for a Saturday morning C-suite meeting. Though it's only 9:00, he's already in a bad mood because he had to cancel his golf game to come into the office. Then his PowerPoint … [Continue reading]
When I was in the third grade, I was discussing global politics with some of my classmates. The Cold War was on and had heated up in Czechoslovakia, Vietnam, and elsewhere. None of us knew much about the Cold War or the Soviet Union, but of course … [Continue reading]
In this chapter, Homer goes full soap opera. Knowing there's a good chance he will be killed and Troy will fall, Hector goes to see his mother, his brother, his wife, and his infant son. This is the first time Homer devotes a whole chapter to Hector, … [Continue reading]
I returned to The Iliad after a two-week absence and found this chapter waiting for me. Here, the focus of the story shifts radically from the kings and generals of the earlier chapters to the soldiers fighting in the fields. Dozens of new characters … [Continue reading]
My friend Neil Gussman, the foremost of the people who inspired me to read The Iliad, tells me that it's a book about the messy realities of war, a story for and by soldiers. I finally saw what he was talking about in Book 4. There’s an intro … [Continue reading]
OK, just finished Book 3 of The Iliad. Finally we get the sex and violence. But no one comes out of this chapter looking good. Paris is (pardon the expression) a pussy. Menelaus is befuddled. Helen lacks agency. Aphrodite is a troublemaker. And all … [Continue reading]
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