A memorable commencement speech by author Kurt Vonnegut celebrates books and “the sweet reluctance of their pages when you turn them with your sensitive fingertips.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Sweet Reluctance of...
Paul in Batavia, New York, recommends The Door-to-Door Bookstore (Bookshop|Amazon), a novel by Carston Henn, translated from German by Melody Shaw, which includes a wonderful description of a book with a perfect final paragraph that you nevertheless...
Sarah in Fleming Island, Florida, is curious about the saying sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you, which suggests “it’s a dog-eat-dog world,” or “eat or be eaten,” or more gently, “you win...
Theora from Hinesburg, Vermont, has long puzzled over something her mother used to say when they were making something together: Would you like me to show you a little trick with a hole in it? By that, her mother apparently meant that she could show...
Fred Allen, an old-time radio performer from the medium’s golden age, had a dry gift for one-liners. He once said, “Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns. He should be drawn and quoted.” Another Allen line: “I like long walks, especially when...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski’s Writer’s Math hides written-out numbers across word breaks in quotations and sentences. The solver hunts consecutive letters spanning two or more words, as in the prompt Launch yourself on every wave, drawn from Thoreau’s...