I didn't work for any newspapers in college, never worked for any newspaper before 'The Washington Post'. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Order and surprise: these are two intertwined elements that make for any great library or collection. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Late summer is perfect for classic mysteries - think of Raymond Chandler's hot Santa Anas and Agatha Christie's Mediterranean resorts - while… — Michael Dirda Ambitious Copy Share Image
Sometimes the very best of all summer books is a blank notebook. Get one big enough, and you can practice sketching the… — Michael Dirda Beach Copy Share Image
Нe [Kurt Vonnegut] felt that life was largely a crap shoot and that we simply need to muddle on as best we… — Michael Dirda Belief Copy Share Image
People who've read my reviews know my tastes, know how I approach a book, know my background. I can write with believable… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I find that the Amazon comments often are exceptionally shrewd and insightful, so I'm not going to diss them. But you don't… — 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… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
A personal library is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be, of what you value and what… — Michael Dirda Desire Copy Share Image
On any given day, I'm likely to be working at home, hunched over this keyboard, typing Great Thoughts and Beautiful Sentences -… — Michael Dirda Beautiful Copy Share Image
In PLATO AT THE GOOGLEPLEX, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein set out to showcase, in sometimes startling ways, the continuing relevance of a classic… — Michael Dirda Authority Copy Share Image
Not all of E. Nesbit's children's books are fantasies, but even the most realistic somehow seem magical. In her holiday world, nobody… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
I think that his [Kurt Vonnegut's] appeal, though, will always be chiefly to adolescents. His sense of the world matches that of… — Michael Dirda Absurdity Copy Share Image
When I come to visit my mom - every two or three months - I generally spend five or six hours with… — Michael Dirda Day Copy Share Image
Whatever Kurt Vonnegut's ultimate status will be in the annals of literature, he was important to a lot of people right now.… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
Throughout the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, Latin was the language of learning and international communication. But in the early modern period,… — Michael Dirda Communication Copy Share Image
For me, the two weeks between Christmas and Twelfth Night have come to be reserved for desultory reading. The pressure of the… — Michael Dirda Christmas Copy Share Image
No matter how beautiful the paper, artwork, printing, and binding, I'm seldom drawn to a book unless it's by a writer I… — Michael Dirda Beautiful Copy Share Image
When I talk to friends and editors about possible projects, especially about projects that might come with a significant cash advance, they… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Sad to say, multi-tasking is beyond me. I read one book at a time all the way through. If I'm reviewing the… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
Long ago, I realized that my only talent - aside from the rugged good looks, of course, and the strange power I… — Michael Dirda Doggedness Copy Share Image
I love the look of books published by the firm of Rupert Hart-Davis: They strike me as handsome, elegant, and inviting. I'll… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Reading books might itself be a bit weird, but obviously okay, since books were part of school, and doing well in school… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
Halloween isn't the only time for ghosts and ghost stories. In Victorian Britain, spooky winter's tales were part of the Christmas season,… — Michael Dirda Christmas Copy Share Image
Every summer, I regret that I didn't become a college teacher. Such a sweet life! With all that vacation time! You'll never… — Michael Dirda Education Copy Share Image
Literary generations come and go, and each generation passeth away and is heard of no more. In the end, simply the making… — 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… — Michael Dirda Books Copy Share Image
For those of us with an inward turn of mind, which is another name for melancholy introspection, the beginning of a new… — Michael Dirda Beginning Copy Share Image
My own particular feline companion answers, or rather doesn't answer, to Cinnamon. One of my kids must have given her the name,… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Summertime, and the reading is easy... Well, maybe not easy, exactly, but July and August are hardly the months to start working… — Michael Dirda Art work Copy Share Image
Close friends, or those in my pay, sometimes call me a literary polymath, while others say that I'm just a shallow dilettante,… — Michael Dirda Close friends Copy Share Image
Many cultures believe that on a certain day - Halloween, the Irish Samhain Eve, Mexico's 'Dia de los Muertos' - the veil… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Back in the 1950s and '60s, J. M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan' - starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard - was regularly aired… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I haven't read for pleasure in 35 years. I mean, I get a lot of pleasure from what I read... For me,… — Michael Dirda Book Copy Share Image
Many people know that Shakespeare's dramatic 'canon' was established in 1623 by the publication of the so-called First Folio. That hefty volume… — Michael Dirda Dramatic Copy Share Image
Young people looking for adventure fiction now generally turn to fantasy, but for those of a certain age, the spy thriller has… — Michael Dirda Adventure Copy Share Image
I do think digital media encourages speed-reading, which can be fine if one is simply seeking information. But a serious novel or… — Michael Dirda Digital media Copy Share Image
With the possible exception of steampunk aficionados, many reasonable people must view my fascination with Victorian and Edwardian popular fiction - mysteries,… — Michael Dirda Adventure Copy Share Image
I've been slightly obsessed with paper and notebooks. Among my most precious possessions is a small light-blue, breviary-sized volume - four-and-a-half inches… — Michael Dirda Company Copy Share Image
A job should bring enough for a worker and family to live on, but after that, self-realization, the exercise of one's gifts… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
![“Нe [Kurt Vonnegut] felt that life was largely a crap shoot and that we simply need to muddle on as best we can, being as kind and loving to one another as possible, right now. It's a pretty good philosophy, no matter what one's religious beliefs or lack of them.” quote by Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ab/michael-dirda-3414_belief_e-kurt-vonnegut-felt-that-life-was-large_1672725.png)
![“I think that his [Kurt Vonnegut's] appeal, though, will always be chiefly to adolescents. His sense of the world matches that of young people, who feel deeply life's absurdity.” quote by Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/michael-dirda-3414_absurdity_i-think-that-his-kurt-vonnegut-s-appeal_652900.png)
