The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama My rating: 4 of 5 stars For the good democrat, it’s an unpleasant fact: the best minds are often those least able to reconcile themselv…| John Pistelli
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch My rating: 5 of 5 stars The pointlessness of art is not the pointlessness of a game; it is the pointlessness of human life itself, and a form in art is properly the…| John Pistelli
BOOKS The Class of 2000 The diamond-cutter craftsmanship of Kosinski, the modern immediacy of DeLillo, the fiery gothicism of Faulkner, the lurid melodrama of Williams, the deep insight of Murdoch.…| John Pistelli
Macbeth by William Shakespeare My rating: 5 of 5 stars Reading Hegel on Tragedy inspired me to revisit Macbeth. This tragedy poses a problem for Hegel’s philosophical system. In his view, tra…| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catalogue of my last month’s reading. My weekly Substack newsletter is always free. I encourage those who haven’t yet subscribed to please do so. Robert […]| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catalogue of my last month’s reading. My weekly Substack newsletter is always free. I encourage those who haven’t yet subscribed to please do so. The […]| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catalogue of my last month’s reading. My weekly Substack newsletter, in addition to other material like the occasional podcast, is always free. I encourage […]| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catalogue of my last month’s reading. My weekly Substack newsletter, in addition to other material like the occasional podcast, is always free. I encourage […]| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catalogue of my last month’s reading. My weekly Substack newsletter, in addition to other material like the occasional podcast, is always free. I […]| John Pistelli
A now eight-year-old tradition at johnpistelli.com has been my annual Bloomsday post. Previous entries include my appreciation of Mina Loy’s extraordinary poem, “Joyce’s Ul…| John Pistelli
Ulysses by James Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars The following, written and posted on Bloomsday in modernism’s centenary year of 2022, should not be taken as definitive. For better and for wors…| John Pistelli
James Joyce by Richard Ellmann My rating: 4 of 5 stars Biography must be the most traditional, even rigid, of the prose genres, exceeding murder mysteries or romance novels. It marches from birth t…| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catal…| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catal…| John Pistelli
I continue my sabbatical from longform criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing on Substack in both text and audio format for paid subscribers. For now, a brief catal…| John Pistelli
[I continue my sabbatical from long-form criticism as I write my novel, Major Arcana, which I am now serializing in both text and audio format for paid subscribers on my Substack, Grand Hotel Abyss…| John Pistelli
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Winter’s Tale, originally grouped with the comedies and then with the late romances, is two Shakespeare plays in one…| John Pistelli