In truth, I'm not really a cat person. Seamus, the wonder dog, still deeply mourned by all who knew him, was just… — Michael Dirda Cats Copy Share Image
Deep in my cortex, the year is divided into reading seasons. The period from mid-October to Christmas, for instance, is 'ghost story'… — Michael Dirda April Copy Share Image
I don't like gross monetary inequities. I firmly believe that the wrong people and the wrong professions are being rewarded, and rewarded… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
While Napoleon believed his fortunes to be governed by destiny, his real genius lay in self-control and martial daring coupled with an… — Michael Dirda Destiny 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… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
In classic noir fiction and film, it is always hot. Fans whirr in sweltering hotel rooms, sweat forms on a stranger's brow,… — Michael Dirda Darkness Copy Share Image
Carl Barks was born in Merrill, Oregon, in 1901, grew up in a farming family, and eventually held a number of blue-collar… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
In a single lifetime, roughly from 1865 to 1930, one finds the pioneering and patterning works of modern fantasy, science fiction, children's… — Michael Dirda Adventure Copy Share Image
Born in 1910, Wilfrid Thesiger spent his childhood in Ethiopia, or Abyssinia, as it was then called, where his father was an… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
People sometimes think that I bring home all these old books because I'm addicted, that I'm no better than a hoarder with… — 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'.… — Michael Dirda Dreams Copy Share Image
