Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 22 August, 1 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books?”, Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Rd., Fitchburg, Wis.
Thursday, 19 September, 6:30 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books, and Why This Book?”, Oregon Public Library, 200 N. Alpine Parkway, Oregon, Wis.
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The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin “Don’t let him bluff you, Mr. Louie! Be firm. Stop him!” —Sherman MADISON, Wis.—“Fight like hell!” quoth the demagogue, twenty feet above his congregation, wreathed in cashmere, framed among flags, shielded by bulletproof glass, flanked by bodyguards. “Charge!” he roared, dispatching his masses as he slid into his limousine and…
Read More...by David Benjamin “The stories of young men searching for their fathers are the stories of young men who through their adventures father themselves by doing for themselves what they hoped a father would do for them.” —William S. Wilson “Someone once said that every man is trying to live up to his father’s expectations…
Read More...by David Benjamin “‘You’re not allowed to call them dinosaurs any more,’ said Yo-less. ‘It’s speciesist. You have to call them pre-petroleum persons.’” —Terry Pratchett MADISON, Wis.—Ever since I heard, in grade school, the passage in Matthew 25—“Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of my brethren,…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Sundance Kid: I can’t swim! “Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya.” — William Goldman MADISON, Wis.—Once, many moons ago, while researching a book about inventions, I toured a carpet factory in South Carolina. The company was a giant in its industry, with hundreds of non-union…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Get a haircut and get a real job/ Clean your act up and don’t be a slob/ Get it together like your big brother Bob … ” —George Thorogood and the Destoyers MADISON, Wis.—My favorite vignette in America’s endlessly recycling follicle wars appears in Robert Zemeckis’ little-noted but remarkably significant—and fun!—film,…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Back then, it was students against the institution. Now it’s very different because it’s student against student.”” —Paul Brest, professor emeritus, Stanford Law School MADISON, Wis.—When I was matriculating at a little liberal arts outpost called Rockford College (pop. 450), there were two noticeably outspoken right-wing students. One, from Boston,…
Read More...by David Benjamin “… conservatives … argue that the crisis in Americasn schools is … about leftist teachers propagandizing on critical race theory and giving kids new pronouns while denying them safe bathrooms.” —Nicholas Kristoff, The New York Times MADISON, Wis.—In Nicholas Kristoff’s eloquent assessment of the real problem with American public schools, I…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you’ll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.” —Stephen King MADISON, Wis.—My gun of choice is a .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight. It’s actually the only gun I’ve ever used. It belonged to…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Life is little more than a loan shark: It exacts a very high rate of interest for the few pleasures it concedes.” —Luigi Pirandello (An ill-lit table in the dark corner of a bar in Hell’s Kitchen. A man, hatless and nattily attired in a custom tailored blue suit with…
Read More...by David Benjamin “When the shouting and tumult dies, the American people and president will realize that the unprecedented mudslinging against the committee by the extreme left-wing elements of press and radio was caused solely because another Fifth Amendment communist was finally dragged out of the dark recesses and exposed to public view.” —Sen.…
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