Category: books

  • Thoughts on Dave Barry’s New Book “Class Clown”

    Thoughts on Dave Barry’s New Book “Class Clown”

    This is not going to be a review of Dave Barry’s 2025 book “Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass,” which I finished a couple days ago. I’m basically saying it’s funny as hell and you should run out and buy it right now. I do have some remarks, none of which will be…

  • You Have to Read the Reblogs About Florida Man!

    You Have to Read the Reblogs About Florida Man!

    This is a twofer reblog because you get two blogs for the price of one! No, you don’t have to buy anything. The main event is a song entitled “Florida Man” by Selwyn Birchwood, mainly because I first heard it a few years ago on what is now, sadly, the retired Big Mo Blues Show,…

  • Correctly Pronounce the Name Odysseus or Just Call Him Bud

    Correctly Pronounce the Name Odysseus or Just Call Him Bud

    I read an interesting essay yesterday in an issue of Iowa Now about a great story in Greek mythology. It’s the story of The Odyssey, which I have difficulty remembering how to spell. And that reminds me of a couple of anecdotes. They both involve my learning about Greek mythology from two great teachers at…

  • Hey, It’s a Throwback Post to 2022!

    Hey, It’s a Throwback Post to 2022!

    This is one worth reblogging, mainly because I fracture some of the content of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology book. It’s one that hits my sentimentality bone because it’s the book my favorite English Lit teacher, Dr. Jenny Lind Porter, used to teach mythology when I was a freshman at Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in Austin,…

  • I Have Dave Barry’s New Book, “Class Clown”

    I Have Dave Barry’s New Book, “Class Clown”

    Yesterday I was hiking hither and yon and ended up at Barnes and Noble. You’ll never guess what I bought there! Oh, you read the title of this post, OK. I always stop at the humor section and I never see anything by Dave Barry. When I saw his new book (well, newer; Class Clown,…

  • Baptism for a Lightweight

    Baptism for a Lightweight

    This post is a blast from the past. Before I published the handbook for consultation-liaison psychiatry over 15 years ago, I suggested a blog post for the Cambridge University Press author web site. I can’t remember if they bought the idea-probably not. But I was pretty proud of our little book, since it weighed zero…

  • Could Ray Bradbury Have Been Lyrical About Isolation & Ebola?

    Could Ray Bradbury Have Been Lyrical About Isolation & Ebola?

    I got this fascinating comment on one of my posts, (Do We See Each Other”), I wrote last year about one of Ray Bradbury’s short stories, entitled “I See You Never.” Judy’s remark was right on target, “Sometimes fiction mirrors life too painfully.” I don’t know whether Bradbury’s short story she called “The Lighthouse” is…

  • Editing My 16-Year-Old Blog Post

    Editing My 16-Year-Old Blog Post

    There’s a couple of reasons for this odd post. There are two reasons for writing it. One is a belated respect for copyright law and the other is a selfish one-my eye is on the WordPress prize for editing a post more than 6 years old. The latter will no doubt be disqualified because the…

  • Dave Barry Beats TV

    Dave Barry Beats TV

    I’ve been sitting here reading Dave Barry’s book, “Best State Ever: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.” It was published in 2016 and every time I read something from it, I laugh my fool head off. I used to have more than 20 of Barry’s non-fiction books. Now I have only this one. The others…

  • Svengoolie Show Movie: “Son of Frankenstein”

    Svengoolie Show Movie: “Son of Frankenstein”

    Svengoolie Intro: “Calling all stations! Clear the air lanes! Clear all air lanes for the big broadcast!” Last night I thought I was going to see the movie “Son of Frankenstein” again because I saw it a year and a half ago. In fact, while watching it I thought I either fell asleep during most…