Bert Almon

@spiccarella I wrote a biography of the Texas novelist, William Humphrey. He hated her passionately.

Does Michiko Kakutani have any recognizable influence on the current state of literary criticism or taste? Used to be you couldn’t pay any recent book or author more than five seconds of attention without that name showing up. Haven’t heard it in ages

@Aliteraryshadow Right. A waste of time.

To me, there's nothing more performative than declaring that a classic well-regarded novel is actually really bad, and everyone praising it is just following the herd.

@david_parker The Forever Canada petition did far better.

The second order effects of 10,000 people willing to actively do something is enormous.

People don't understand what happens when you mobilize 10,000 people to do something. The impact is enormous. Anyone who has ever studied sociology knows what 10,000 volunteers represents.

@megha_lilly You should know better than to use "retarded" as a slur.

When you read things like Crime and Punishment, the Odyssey and the Iliad, and are confronted with unadulterated beauty, you automatically feel nothing but visceral disgust when you encounter James Joyce. Anyone who disagrees with this is either retarded or a charlatan.

@BretVDB Really? Where have you been? I don't attend them because I've seen so many.

Today I shall, for the first time in my life, attend a live performance of Handel’s Messiah.

@stoneandthestar I hear "fulsome" misused in Canada all the time. A sad loss of meaning. It will always be misunderstood--no point in using the word. It's gone the way of "disinterest."

Does everyone use "fulsome" in a ridiculous way now (to mean exhaustive or complete, rather than its real meaning which relates to OTT gushing) or is it just Canadians? I keep seeing it from Canadians

@andrew_leach And who's "they"?

I suppose it's not surprising to find that the guy leading the Alberta separatist cause is a chemtrails nut.

@BretVDB What about Chaucer? I had a course on him in graduate school.

As I draw near the end of my coursework, it’s interesting to reflect on how few single-author courses I took. I can only recall five: four on Shakespeare and one on Milton.

@DanielTyrie @GarnettGenuis @cosminDZS @CandiceMalcolm ICE would welcome you as a recruit.

This is my problem with conservatives. They are allergic to power. They see power as innately evil, something that must be limited instead of wielded. I want a government that will wield power, do what is necessary, to preserve the interests of the Canadian people. Yes, this means people who should never have been granted citizenship in the first place will be stripped of status and sent back home.

Important debate today between @CandiceMalcolm and @DanielTyrie on remigration. There’s genuine vitality on the Canadian right right now: remigrationists and restrictionists, Alberta sovereigntists and Canadian nationalists. We’re stronger for it. junonews.com/p/how-can-we-r…

@Nixren1 @jamesfburnett Sloganeer--that's good.

@jamesfburnett Pierre is performative. He’s on stage. He’s acting. What matters are words and actions and plans. Pierre has none of these. I want to vote conservative but I cannot vote for a grandstanding sloganeer whose goal is the position not the tasks and the responsibilities included

Sometimes a photo tells us everything: Pierre looks masculine with arms out and legs out, shoulders back with relaxed but confident position. Carney is slouched over, legs crossed, arms in looking weak. Who would you rather facing off vs Trump with your job on the line?

@Isuckatpicking Boss Hogg.

If you use the word communism to describe the federal government you’ve already lost any reasonable argument you want to make. Nothing but lies and rage baiting to uneducated, gullible fools.

@amjuster Nope.

Is it just me or do you find the combination of no punctuation but capitalization at the beginning of each line annoying? #Merwin

@amjuster Ah, quantum mechanics. I'm always suspicious.

A provocative essay on the nature of #God & consciousness by #poet #ChristianWiman: harpers.org/archive/2025/1…

Reporter: VP Vance called the court order absurd. Shapiro: He rose to some prominence by writing a book about growing up in Appalachia, where there are a whole lot of people who get SNAP. He made millions of dollars off telling their stories, and then he turned his damn back on those very people he likes to write about and claim as his own. And you’ll excuse me for getting emotional about it, but when I see people in my state who are hungry because of Vance’s bullshit politics, that makes me angry. That’s why I went to court, and that’s why we’re putting dollars on people’s SNAP cards—because that’s what the people of Pennsylvania deserve. And America deserves better than J.D. Vance.

@jonathanbfine Students often come from households without books. This is new to them. It doesn't go without saying. I was a professor for 44 years and didn't feel offended by the question.

it should go without saying that of course i haven’t read all my books. that’s not why i have them.

@jonathanbfine I never saw it that way. It's an expression of awe.

a student asked me if i’d read the books i have on the shelves in my office and i can barely conceive of a more hostile question

@ae_stallings Has anyone mentioned Louis MacNeice's book, ASTROLOGY? History and methods. A book for hire (he wasn't a beleiver) and well-done.

Could someone recommend a book (or readings) on alchemy? I don't want some New Age thing or anything "practical", I want something historical, with an overview, for instance, of the terminology.

@ae_stallings The Great Good Place is brilliant. "Out of all this now too much for us."

Reading through Henry James's shorter works and they are deliciously written. I read three or four pages and have to put the book down to digest. (Occurs to me the story Madame de Mauves is a direct rebuttal to Madame Bovary.)

@stoneandthestar @SketchesbyBoze It's one of the finest. The Kenneth Branagh version (with Judi Dench) is tremendous.

@SketchesbyBoze This is one of the relatively few Shakespeare plays I have neither seen nor read, & I have no idea why. I guess I have something to look forward to!

In The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare’s language achieves a shining perfection that no poet in 400 years has equaled. There is a scene towards the end of such redemptive power that when I saw a live performance in Kansas City some years ago, it brought the whole audience to tears.

@phillipcrymble You might find this piece on teaching with Derek Walcott interesting. thewalrus.ca/the-stranger-w…