Michael Ducker4/16/21 — This Week’s Reading ReviewRoland Barthes’ essay “The Death of the Author” has attained a status seldom accorded to literary criticism: popularity. Sadly, its…11 min read·Apr 16, 2021----
Michael Ducker4/9/21 — This Week’s Reading ReviewLet us resume our summary of The Castle of Otranto and the life of Horace Walpole. The son of British statemen Robert Walpole — widely…16 min read·Apr 9, 2021----
Michael Ducker4/2/21 — This Week’s Reading ReviewThis week, I finished reading John Hollander’s The Figure of Echo. It is with a summary of the remainder of that book that we will begin…11 min read·Apr 2, 2021----
Michael Ducker3/25/21 — Literary News RoundupI’m thinking I’ll make this newsletter one that comes out the final Thursday of every month. Frankly, I rarely feel there’s enough…4 min read·Mar 25, 2021----
Michael Ducker3/19/21 — This Week’s Reading ReviewThis week I have Erich Auerbach’s classic book of literary criticism, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Let’s…15 min read·Mar 19, 2021----
Michael Ducker3/18/21 — The Gnashing of Teeth and the Smashing of KeyboardsDo you like incendiary openings? Sadly, I cannot supply you with one. Christian Lorentzen, on the other hand, certainly can:3 min read·Mar 18, 2021----