Wagnersim: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross If the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t struck this year,… Read more Wagnerism
Author: Rick
My life-long passion is in the arts: music, theater, visual arts, and literature. I graduated from Cal Arts in 1985 with a degree in music composition. After a career in Human Resources with the AIDS Project Los Angeles and as a parish minister for Unitarian Universalist churches in the Los Angeles area, I retired in 2025 and pursued my artistic work: drawing, painting, composing, and creative writing.
Liberal Religion
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion, not because of our progressive politics but because of our commitment to the ideals… Read more Liberal Religion
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky You might notice the gap between the last book posted here and this one.… Read more The Brothers Karamazov
True Grit
True Grit by Charles Portis Somehow I missed this one. Actually, I’ll tell you exactly why I missed it. Charles… Read more True Grit
Cynical Theories
Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay I took a break from reading fiction to pick up a thread… Read more Cynical Theories
The Song of Achilles
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller A song, sung by Patroclus, telling the story of his friend Achilles, the… Read more The Song of Achilles
Ghost Story
Ghost Story by Peter Straub I had heard this was one of the scariest books of all time. I was… Read more Ghost Story
Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison Reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami made me think of ghost stories. Several of… Read more Beloved
Remains of the Day
Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro. The author was born in Japan but raised in England and writes in… Read more Remains of the Day
Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Not a Nobel winner, but often proposed for the prize. After reading Remains… Read more Kafka on the Shore