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The Avignon Papacy Contested: An Intellectual History from Dante to Catherine of Siena by Unn Falkeid Harvard University Press, 2017 Series: I Tatti Studies in Itallian Renaissance History The aim of this book has been to explore some of the most significant critics of the Avignon papacy, critics who in many ways came to prepare […]
I posted about this earlier this year, but I’m excited to say that The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works is now available and it is beautiful. While Robert Stassler is still the series editor, Kurt A. Raaflaub did the translation and editing. If you’re not familiar with the series, it presents classical historical works […]
Yesterday was the first day in about sixteen months that I was pain-free for a few hours. I cannot tell you how great that felt. It turns out I got very little done during that time, though. I found myself simply enjoying the feeling. Or lack of it, I guess. I know I’ve said this […]
Picture source: Big Star Third Live Facebook page I have wanted to post something…anything…but haven’t felt up to it for a while. I’ve posted about this tour elsewhere, but I’m pleasantly surprised how much I liked the documentary release covering one of its performances. There are some interviews with a few of the performers, but […]
Another week, another trip to the hospital for an infection. Fortunately this was caught early enough that medication may be enough to handle it. On to brighter things… The video appears to be the 1991 movie 30 Door Key based on Witold Gombrowicz’s book Ferdydurke. I’ll be checking it out this weekend. I had […]
I seem to be all over the place in reading lately, but with little time to post about it. I seem to focus on big-brush topics at times and while I always hope to post on them, it never seems to work. So I’m hoping with a little prodding on my own part, I’ll follow […]
I have had the above video open in a browser for several weeks without watching it. I wanted to see Hugh Kenner, but the topic title, “The Political Responsibility of Artists,” put me off. I finally screwed up the courage to watch and found it stimulating…I shouldn’t have let the title guide me. Kenner is […]
I wanted to wait until I had a released copy of Be Like the Fox to quote anything from it. Here’s a lengthy excerpt about an episode late in Machiavelli’s life. The setting: the Medici successfully returned to Florence in 1512 and Machiavelli was removed from office. He remained in political exile until 1521 when […]
The Red Sphinx by Alexandre Dumas Edited and translated by Lawrence Ellsworth Pegasus Books, 2017 Hardcover, 832 pages What is clear and undeniable in this painting is that it depicts a man of mind and intelligence, and nothing more. Here is neither heart nor spirit—fortunately for France. In the vacuum of the monarchy between Henry […]
Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli in His World by Erica Benner W. W. Norton & Company, 2017 Erica Brenner’s study of “Machiavelli in his world” is being released today. I obtained an advance reading copy secondhand and wanted to pass on a few of my thoughts about the book since I found it helpful and […]