Monthly Archives: April 2008

CALVINO AND PASCAL: WHAT SCARES YOU CAN ALSO EXCITE

I came across a quote today by Italo Calvino that is so wonderfully illustrative of the problem writers often face in constructing a story, that I’d like to share it with you. It occurs in a lecture he prepared for … Continue reading

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RUMBLINGS AND MUMBLINGS ABOUT HISTORY

Here I am, up at 6:15 in the morning, thinking about history. Where’s the justice in that? Back in the days when I taught Russian History, I used a textbook written by Nicholas Riasanovsky, called simply A History of Russia. … Continue reading

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