Reference-book nerdery
Scott McLemee contemplates the very first dictionary of the English language, which was compiled in the late 16th century by Robert Cawdrey.
Scott McLemee contemplates the very first dictionary of the English language, which was compiled in the late 16th century by Robert Cawdrey.
Carrie of Tingle Alley, having taken Stanley Fish’s advice to heart, plans the opening of her murder mystery: Knock knock.
When The Dud Avocado is reissued in June, I’ll be posting Terry Teachout’s marvelous new introduction.
Writer Chris Abani was asked to leave seminary at 17 “over matters of dogma,” but remains interested in religion, “the attempt to give faith a voice.”
Reading Hermione Lee’s biography of Edith Wharton, I’ve been fascinated by the descriptions of Wharton’s writing process, which was by turns scattershot and obsessive. She started and abandoned projects willy-nilly, but when she focused on something, she rewrote sentences over and over again. Wharton’s own writing life was, after 1899, so high-voltage, so prolific and efficient, that it is startling . . .