Books: “Bowling for Communism” in Leipzig
Leipzig was among the East German cities to be visited in 1989 during my August working holiday in the GDR, but the group excursion...
Roger’s year in books and reading, 2021
When it comes to books, I’ve never seriously attempted to rank a year’s reading in terms of "best of" or the like. To be...
Books: “The Cold War from the Margins” in Bulgaria
In May I read a good book about a little-known aspect of the Cold War.
The Cold War from the Margins: A Small Socialist State...
“Trieste,” a novel by Daša Drndić
It can be daunting, perhaps even crippling, to consider the immensity of what remains unknown about the wider world. What we as individuals know...
Take me, I’m existentially yours (or, crisis—what crisis?)
This essay appeared as an "On the Avenues" column on January 1, 2019. For those reading from afar, be aware that in metro Louisville,...
Books and politics, with Roberto Bolaño and “The Savage Detectives”
In the year 2015 I ran for mayor of New Albany. During a candidate Q & A, I became the first mayoral candidate in...
Times change, but Ernest Hemingway was an inspiration to this youthful traveler
Originally published as "(Ernest) Hemingway in a time of mercifully silent thunder" on April 23, 2020. A Ken Burns documentary about Hemingway is coming...
The books I read in 2020
From December 22, 2020 at NA Confidential. Some articles from late in the year were not archived here, and this is one of them.
The...
My year in books, 2022
Just before I was born in 1960, my parents purchased a complete set of hardbound Compton's Encyclopedia and subscribed to the annual yearbook supplements....
Louisville beer, now and then (or, my 2014 review of Kevin Gibson’s “Louisville Beer”...
Because, I really nailed this one.
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Louisville Beer, Now and Then
“Anyone who has groped among the dark beer dungeons which lie for a number...
Latest article
40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 45): The Silo and Oertels, as well...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 44): Life becoming a landslide (1992-93).
Author's note: I've chosen to keep this installment as a single...
40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 44): Life becoming a landslide (1992-93)
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book II, Part 43): Facing the music at Rich O’s in 1992.
By the late summer of 1992, a routine had...
Diary: When you personally experience ageism, that’s when you know it’s real
I’ll remember the winter of ’23-’24 as a difficult time for me – professionally, not personally.
This turbulence, which seems to be gradually receding as...
