The Chronicles of Meh
My anticipation at reading Lev Grossman’s The Magicians only accentuated my frustration once I did. It had been recommended by people whose tastes I trust and was ultimately such a disappointment. But I’d actually love to be convinced that I’m wrong, especially that the sequels are worth reading. Here are my problems with the book: First, […]
A Half History of Race Science
I recently finished Nell Irvin Painter’s A History of White People. I’d been looking forward to it for sometime but was ultimately disappointed in what I read. Painter’s book is one of the seminal texts of a cross-disciplinary field called whiteness studies, which focuses on the meaning of the racial category ‘white.’ So when I […]
Race in Contemporary America
On Friday I gave my last lectures at Cal Poly Pomona. The lesson, a new version of a one I developed last fall, attempts to give some context to what we’ve seen recently in Ferguson and Baltimore. The lesson is framed with some remarks delivered by Ta-Nehisi Coates at Johns Hopkins, just after the recent […]
A Departure
Today I’m giving my last lecture(s) at Cal Poly Pomona. This summer I’ll move and in the fall I’ll be teaching at The Waterford School, a wonderful K-12 independent school in Utah. I’m delighted to be joining that community but also a bit sad about the departure. On Wednesday the department honored me at their […]
“Such a Jason Book”
I grew up on Garrison Keillor’s “News from Lake Wobegon,” often enjoyed on summer trips up to the small town where my parents grew up. The combination instilled in me a love for stories set in small town America. Now I have a dedicated shelf in my living room for “books with that small town feel.” […]
The Extraordinary in the Ordinary Life
A friend recommended Stoner by John Williams in her 2014 book roundup. I was sufficiently intrigued by her description to order a copy for myself. I, of course, did not read the review in the New Yorker (since I prefer to enter new books with as little prior information as possible). The book itself did not disappoint. […]
Who Do You Think You Are?
Earlier this month I read Mindy Kaling’s 2011 memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? It was a Christmas gift in keeping with my reading of Bossypants (by Tina Fey) and Yes Please (by Amy Poehler, my review here). This was perhaps the most interesting as a memoir, because I didn’t know Kaling’s backstory. Unlike Fey and […]
Hild by Nicola Griffith
The front of my copy of Hild has this quote from Neal Stephenson: “Extraordinary … [Hild] resonates to many of the same chords as Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones.” The problem: Hild is neither myth nor fantasy. There are no monsters, magic, or elements of […]
Lessons You Should Have Learned From History
I have been reflecting recently on what I teach and why I teach and what frustrating ideas I encounter about history among adults. So here is my list of lessons they should have learned from history, and which I hope I am helping my students discover for themselves. Old is not a reason – Saying […]
Future Fiction
I’ve been thinking lately about the need for a new way to describe a certain sub-genre I enjoy. Usually these books are classified as Science Fiction because they involve a post-apocalyptic future. But I think we need some way to separate them from versions that revolve heavily around space, robotics, aliens, genetics, etc. Station Eleven […]