Maupin's Mash Note to San Francisco
I loved the first six volumes of Tales of the City, although the recently published Michael Tolliver Lives sounds pretty dire. Still, few writers have ever written more lovingly about the city by the bay.
Wes Phillips
Revolutionary Restaurants
I'm with Calvin Trillin on this one: Never eat in a restaurant that rotates.
How Is It Possible to Speak of a Mother's Body?
Mary Gordon writes on the essence of memory.
Missing Pages
Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America—An Oral History sounds like one heck of a good read. And while we're on the subject, I also recommend the Library of America's Reporting">http://www.reportingcivilrights.org/loa/">Reporting Civil Rights.
A Kingsley Amiss Revival?
Not bloody likely, says Michael Dirda. A scant 12 years after his death, you're unlikely to find even his most lauded novel, Lucky Jim in bookstores, libraries, or on friends' bookshelves.
Kinematics
When Franz Reuleaux created the "language of invention," he more or less invented the future we live in.
Atta Boys!
Conn and Hal's Iggulden's The">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR20070… Dangerous Book for Boys has been on my must-read list since it was published here in the States, but Conn's lovely essay, "In Praise of Skinned Knees and Grubby Faces," has catapulted it to the top of my list.
Death & Politics
I don't know about you, but I can't resist an essay that begins: "San Francisco is a city without graves. In 1900, the board of supervisors passed an ordinance prohibiting burials within the city limits. In 1912, the board announced its further intention to eliminate the city’s previously existing cemeteries, and in 1914 removal notices were sent to all burial sites, declaring them 'a public nuisance and a menace and detriment to the health and welfare of city dwellers.'"
Huckside Down
Huckleberry is the only cat we've ever owned who can be both crazed and stationary. It's a gift.
That Boy's Not Right
Bagheera, ever the lady, looks askance at Huck's antics.