Here’s a quick post that’s a bit about journalism and a bit about hypertext and the power of the link. Note that while most social media platforms don’t enable proper web links, like the one in the previous sentence, micro.blog does. Another win for micro.blog!
In ev’ry government, though terrors reign,
Though tyrant kings, or tyrant laws restrain,
How small of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.
— Oliver Goldsmith
The estimable and always thoughtful A. M. Juster reviews The Shield of Achilles. I am grateful for his kind words about my introduction, sorry that I was unable to convince him of the book’s excellence, and of course deeply wounded that he thinks Edward Mendelson wrote the notes. In fact, I did.
Based on that new post of mine, my friend Rick Gibson is having a t-shirt made up for me.
My one comment about the election — or rather the discourse surrounding the election — requires me to explain how people misread Joan Didion’s most famous sentence.
My Substack account has gotten completely out of control, and I can best deal with that by deleting my account. I will soon create a new one and re-subscribe to the good stuff. If you’re on Substack and reading this, then of course yours is the good stuff.