milk and honey

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles: Masterful and enthralling. Vanderbilt in a nutshell, by a contemporary: “The Commodore’s word is as good as his bond when it is fairly given. He is equally exact in fulfilling his threats.”

While reading Annie Dillard, I wondered if she and Fred Buechner ever hung out. What a mystical/concrete pair. Some Googling might come up with the facts. But, it seems more respectful to both of them to let the possibility hang without a definite answer.

What explains my not having read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek SOMETIME in the 50 years since it was published?! Nevermind. I’m fixing that now, and am blown away.

From a wonderfully illustrated review of a book of photographs by Ruth Orkin (1921-1985)

I’m really enjoying this audiobook of The Odyssey read by the actor, Anton Lesser. The translation by Ian Johnston is very accessible (if a bit awkward at times). I think this story has legs. 📚

an ongoing list
P.G. Wodehouse • G.K. Chesterton • Dorothy L. Sayers • C.S. Lewis • Frederick Buechner • Kathleen Norris • Alan Jacobs • Terry Teachout • David French • Evelyn Underhill • Garrison Keillor, editor (for his Good Poems collections) • Naomi Shihab Nye • T.S. Eliot • Roger Scruton • John Donne • John Milton • Abraham Lincoln • Anthony Trollope • Jane Kenyon • John McPhee • David Brooks • Li-Young Lee • Tom Stoppard • Michael Chabon • Laurie Colwin • The author of the Johannine epistles • The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews • Witold Rybczynski • Angelo Pellegrini • Calvin Trillin (the "Tummy Trilogy" and beyond) • William Carlos Williams • Christopher Alexander, et al. (A Pattern Language) • Anne Lamott • Yuval Levin • Philip Yancey • Colum McCann • Hilary Mantel • William deBuys • Alex Harris, photographer • Victoria Goddard • Iris Murdoch • Virginia Woolf • Hampton Sides • Louis Menand • Sophocles • Charles Dickens • Jane Austen • Wendell Berrly • John Buchan • Dorianne Laux • Charles Portis • Annie Dillard • Lewis Hyde • Sappho • 📘