The weather’s turning warm (and then cold again and then warm again, but let’s just forget the blustery part for now), the kids are clamoring to begin their video-game and amusement park-filled vacations, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy is in stores again—yes, this can only mean one thing. Summer—a blessed time in Michigan, and an especially exciting [...]
Every year, the Michigan Department of Education’s Library of Michigan and its Michigan Notable Books program choose 20 of the most notable books published in the year. According to the Notable Books web site, “The selections are reflective of Michigan’s diverse ethnic, historical, literary, and cultural experience.” The program is supported by sponsors such as Wayne [...]
Rules, they’re not just for curfew-breaking teenagers or grueling sports matches. Sometimes rules can be overbearing, but sometimes they are absolutely necessary for everyone’s mutual enjoyment of a place, an event, or just life. Enter a fast food restaurant, and you’re sure to see a sign that reads “No shirt. No shoes. No service.” Go [...]
What is culture? I guess you could define it as high-brow, artsy stuff, but the sociologist in me thinks of this concept more as it applies to society—a cohesive unit in which the members work together for their own individual benefit or to benefit the society as a whole. In this way, “book club culture” [...]
By Dorinda Fox I don’t watch Fox News and don’t want to. However, many of my long suffering students, who patiently read what I ask them to read and perform academic tasks I deem worthy, do watch Fox News. If they can read material that might not be their cup of tea or perform tasks [...]
I’m a super hero, sort of… Let’s not skirt around the issue. It’s not that I haven’t taken a few modest steps towards disguising my true identity. I have, in fact, updated my homely, Midwestern name to something that has a bit more of an exotic flair. I’ve even converted my self-portrait to grey-scale–the missing hues make [...]
There was a brief period when I chose to believe that the cheapest way to buy a book was to go in a Borders bookstore and pay for one with a coupon, an outrageously good deal of a coupon that seemed to appear in my inbox in a slightly different form every day: 30 percent [...]
When I was a graduate student, I shopped at Borders. The original Borders. To get a job there selling books, you had to take a test and strut your literary stuff. Couldn’t remember who wrote The Old Man and the Sea? Well, then, you could just go and get a job at Pizza Bob’s. It [...]
