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Books

Pleastte see the C.S Lewis tab for some  of my books dealing with him.

NERBkcoverAn anonymous review on Amazon:  “The title, a little known verse from the New Testament, sets the unifying theme of this collection of essays: speech in all its forms. James Como, a veteran professor of Rhetoric at the City University of New York, upholds the honor and dignity of the core meaning of the term, the skillful use of language, or as he describes it “a practical engagement of the most important human faculties at once directed toward a particular end under particular circumstances. (p. 139). Subjects range from high culture (Shakespeare, Thornton Wilder) to a consideration of the possibilities of (more or less) organized conversation in today’s world (a salon!) on down to intriguing looks at pop culture (movies, baseball). Como gives an entertaining account of an interview he conducted with the president of that South American land. He tells of conversations with Richard Attenborough, the distinguished director of the film Shadowlands, and with the equally distinguished cast. (What he quotes from a celebrated actress is hilarious and unforgettable.)”.    

This collection of forty-three essay covers much ground, from literary criticism, to scholarship, book reviews, cultural commentary, travel and memoir.

The is much to provoke, delight, and even transport: poignancy and romance alongside argument, reflection, vivid description, and joy.

 

 

And these four . . . For those from ten years old to the very old, ten stories that age but will not grow old and that hope to carry you home.  Also a “life in the day of”: a poem for each hour of the day, that is, each stage of life.  And then Brusco and Giovanni, the boy who must dive deeply into himself to find the strength of character he needs, far beyond the world he — or we — know. And finally sixteen different tales, certainly not for children.