Nonfiction

Why Is Axe Murder Funny? Why Is It Captivating?

Reviewing Rachel McCarthy James’s ‘Whack Job’ and Andrew Klavan’s ‘The Kingdom of Cain’

11 hrs ago • Joel J Miller

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Against the World

Reviewing Joseph Loconte’s ‘The War for Middle Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945’

Dec 3 • Joel J Miller

Against Paul Kingsnorth’s ‘Against the Machine’

A Charitable (I Hope) Critique

Nov 22 • Joel J Miller

Worse Than Jerks: Why Some People Have Rotten Character

And Why Socrates Couldn’t Fix It: Reviewing ‘The Quest for Character’ by Massimo Pigliucci

Nov 15 • Joel J Miller

Rest Well, Work Well: The Formula for Being Human

Reviewing Two Classics on the Link Between Work and Leisure

Nov 8 • Nate Marshall

All There Is to Know, More or Less

Encyclopedic Understanding. An A-to-Z Review of Simon Garfield’s ‘All the Knowledge in the World’

Nov 5 • Joel J Miller

Our Ancestors Murdered Their Mother Tongue, Thankfully

Reviewing Laura Spinney’s ‘Proto: How One Language Went Global’

Sep 24 • Joel J Miller

Mystery to Ourselves: The Brain’s Black Box

The Human Self in Literature and Science: Reviewing Eric Hoel’s ‘The World Behind the World’

Aug 20 • Joel J Miller

‘And Lead Us Not into Distraction’

What Monks and Nuns Know about Staying Focused. Reviewing Jamie Kreiner’s ‘The Wandering Mind’

Aug 16 • Joel J Miller

Note to Self: Watch Your Mouth

When We Don’t Speak Our Minds: Reviewing Glenn C. Loury’s ‘Self-Censorship’

Jun 28 • Joel J Miller

Narrative Control: How Stories Dominate Our Lives

Reviewing Alissa Wilkinson’s ‘We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine’

Jun 14 • Joel J Miller

Books Before Print, Paper, and Pixel

The Art and Function of Medieval Manuscripts: Reviewing ‘The Lindisfarne Gospels,’ ‘Imperial Splendor,’ and ‘Performing the Gospels in Byzantium’

May 24 • Joel J Miller

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