“You have to eat and keep going. Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this.” (Raymond Carver, A Small, Good Thing) Maybe reading is also a small, good thing? I am finally back in the swing of reading for pleasure and, as a treat to myself, I re-read for the umpteenth time Raymond Carver’s short story, “A Small, Good Thing.” The story appears to be about a couple as they try to deal with the aftermath of their son being hit by a car. But I think the story is really about the human … [Read more...]
How book bingo changed my life
I might be slightly hyperbolic in asserting that book bingo changed my life. But it did reorient me in ways I didn't expect. The 2019 book bingo challenge Inspired by the Kitchener Public Library's book bingo in the summer of 2018, I decided to create a bingo card for my workplace. The challenge would run for the entire calendar year. Each colleague's leisure reading interests would be represented by at least one square on the bingo card. You'll notice that a few squares correspond to … [Read more...]
Poets for the animals
I've been thinking about story-telling and relationships with particular animals. Consider the following two snippets: Peter Singer doesn’t love animals In the preface to the 1975 edition of Animal Liberation, Peter Singer shares a story about a time he was invited to tea. He'd begun working on Animal Liberation. Much to the surprise of his host, Singer admitted that he isn't an animal lover (p. 9). Singer came to his theory of animal liberation through rational argument, not a relationship … [Read more...]