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A Month in Siena 10/16/2023
Reading time: 4 minutes
I wanted something to happen.
In the follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir The Return (2016), Hisham Matar goes to northern Italy with the intention of contemplating art.
Background on...
Eyewitness Travel: France 4/24/2023
Reading time: 6 minutes
The range is impressive.
Like many fans of travel writing, especially members of the travel tribe, I enjoy reading guide books.
Background on this series is here.
I tend to reach for Frommer...
L'Africain du Groenland 8/2/2022
Reading time: 6 minutes
There's a lot to process.
Before reading An African in Greenland, the story of Tété-Michel Kpomassie's 1965 trip to the world's second largest island, I suspected it might contain tales of prejud...
On the Plain of Snakes 5/17/2022
Reading time: 5 minutes
Definitions are a terrible way to start.
Years ago, I would occasionally peruse editorials by the legendarily unimpressive Jonah Goldberg. It astonished me that anyone would feel compelled to wri...
Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege 3/22/2022
Reading time: 4 minutes
I'm sure they felt good to write.
Nothing is easier than setting up contemptible demons and then cutting them off at the knees. Deserving candidates are everywhere, and when the hammer drives a pos...
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