Author Archives: John Walters

Book Review: The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood

I like history books that read like novels:  full of anecdotes, details, fast-paced narration, fascinating characters.  This book is not like that.  It does not read like a novel at all; it reads more like a university lecture.  You have … Continue reading

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Book Update

Generally I confine my blog to essays, book reviews, and so on, but occasionally a bit of self promotion is not amiss.  As I prepared to make my grand departure from Greece for the United States, knowing I would be … Continue reading

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Paranoia Revisited

When contemplating my upcoming return to the United States after thirty-five years abroad I realized that the prospect terrified me.  Analyzing a fear is one method of banishing it, so I decided to consider why my native land held such … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller

By way of introduction let me emphasize that Henry Miller is one of my favorite writers.  His writings changed my life, changed my attitude towards writing and towards literature.  “Tropic of Cancer” is one of my favorite books of all … Continue reading

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Transitions

For over fifteen years I have stood fast here in Thessaloniki, raising a family and working at private language schools teaching English.  The family never ends this side of the grave, though responsibilities diminish as the kids grow, but a … Continue reading

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Book Review: Wild Nights!: Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickenson, Twain, James, and Hemingway by Joyce Carol Oates

This is a wildly original collection of long short stories, or novelettes, on the last days of famous writers.  I had never heard of it before, but I picked it up at the library on a whim, intrigued by the … Continue reading

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Book Review: Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man by Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson

This is a fairly comprehensive biography on Tagore, starting with a chapter on his grandfather and culminating in his death.  After he won the Nobel prize for literature in 1913 he was an international celebrity, considered one of the two … Continue reading

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After the Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Memoir of Greece – Now Available!

My new memoir “After the Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Memoir of Greece is now available in an electronic Kindle edition here.  It will soon be available in a print edition as well.  Here’s the text of the back cover blurb: “Greece … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

I ordered this book as soon as I could after I learned that it had won the 2011 Man Booker Prize and had read some reviews.  The subject matter fascinated me.  I too am aging and am confronted with a sense … Continue reading

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Self-consciousness in Greek Society

Today I experienced one of the great tragedies in a writer’s life:  I irretrievably lost a piece of work.  In the midst of a busy morning I sat down to write a blog post – this same post, in fact … Continue reading

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