Christmas, as far as I am concerned, is officially here.  Why?  Because I've got exactly what I asked Santa to bring (by way of my dear,...

The world of Charles Dickens, in the popular imagination of our day, is little more than a Victorian Christmas card; plump ladies in funny ...

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Every year at the bookstore, I read Truman Capote's little sentimental masterpiece, "A Christmas Memory" aloud, to celebrate ...

In the long list of Things I Intend Never to Do Again -- updated almost weekly nowadays -- there are some activities precluded by encroachin...

To begin, a quote: "Trollope's novels (are) solid, substantial, written on the strength of beef and through the inspiration of ale ...