Monthly Archives: April 2008

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 →

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 →