Not all of E. Nesbit's children's books are fantasies, but even the most realistic somehow seem magical. In her holiday world, nobody ever goes to school, though all the kids know their English history, Greek myths, and classic tales of… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics - feel that [Kurt] Vonnegut started to repeat himself, to grow increasingly self-indulgent and meandering, and to sometimes just blather in his later work. But his books up to "Slaughterhouse-Five" do possess a distinctiveness that will insure… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
To my mind, 'Dear Brutus' stands halfway between Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 'Into the Woods'. Like them,… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
The goal of a just society should be to provide satisfying work with a living wage to all its citizens. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
My gift, if that's not too grandiose a term, is one for describing novels, biographies, and works of history in such a way that… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book's artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
My wife tells me I should check out 'Downton Abbey', but I gather that series might be almost too intense for my temperate nature. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I once read that in vaudeville, it was often the straight guy who got paid more than the comic because that's the tougher job.… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the December issue of almost any general-interest magazine regularly featured a holiday horror or two. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
