Brad Shorr
In 1911, Holbrook Jackson, a British journalist and socialist, privately published a little book called Platitudes in the Making, Precepts & Advices for Gentlefolk. G.K. Chesterton, a friend of Holbrook’s, received an autographed copy, and amused himself by handwriting witty responses to each of Holbrook’s nuggets of advice. How do…
This collection of essays published in 2000 was a freebie at the 2021 Chesterton Conference. It includes several well-known essays along with many that were new to me. Unfortunately, the editor did not reference where or when the essays where originally published; regardless of the origin, each selection gives us…
Orwell gave us a good look at what’s beneath the surface. Quite relevant: Key dialog: “How does one man assert power over another? By making him suffer Exactly. Obedience is not enough. Power is inflicting pain and humiliation. Otherwise, you cannot be sure. Power is tearing human minds apart… and…
In Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky tries to explain the seemingly irrational behavior of humans in psychological terms. First published in 1864, the novella is a fascinating character study that has been called the first existentialist work of fiction. The narrator, “Underground Man,” is quite unreliable; since you can’t trust…