Notes before the Nativity

So that's where Thor and his hammer and Loki and the rest come from: a single manuscript of Eddic poetry that was nearly lost (subscription required to read the full article).

Phighting Philosophers: The bitter contest between Ted Honderich and Colin McGinn can't help but recall the great Donald Barthelme short story, "Kierkegaard Unfair to Schlegel." Especially the fact that McGinn and Honderich may be quarrelling "not over intellectual matters at all, but about something one of them said more than a quarter of a century ago about the other's ex-girlfriend."

December 20, 2007 7:06 PM | Permalink

Categories:

THE REVIEWS:

Pat Barker, Frankenstein, Cass Sunstein on the internet, Samuel Johnson, Thrillers, Denis Johnson, Alan Furst, Caryl Phillips, Richard Flanagan, George Saunders, Michael Harvey, Larry McMurtry, Harry Potter and more ...

ESSAY:

Big D between the sheets -- Dallas in fiction

ESSAY:

Reviewing the state of reviewing

ESSAY:

9/11 as a novel: Why?

ESSAY:

How can critics say the things they do? And why does anyone pay attention? It's the issue of authority.

The disappearing book pages:

Papers are cutting book coverage for little reason

Thrillers and Lists:

Noir favorites, who makes the cut and why