Stan Persky
Stan Persky taught philosophy at Capilano University in N. Vancouver, B.C. He received the 2010 B.C. Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. His most recent books are Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009 (McGill-Queen's, 2011), Post-Communist Stories: About Cities, Politics, Desires (Cormorant, 2014), and Letter from Berlin: Essays 2015-2016 (Dooney's, 2017).
Send in the Clowns… but it’s no laughing matter
The G-8 Demo in Rostock.
Some Enchanted Evening… in Aleppo?
An American anthropologist in a Syrian steambath.
Letter from Europe: Ooh-la-la Land
France picks a president.
Letter from Europe: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
A theological long weekend.
Letter from Europe: Bomb Scare
Global warming, AIDS in Africa, Iraq quagmire, Israeli-Palestinian conflict… Got enough to worry about? Jason Epstein says, Put nuclear weapons back on your list of worries.
Reading, Writing, Shelving
Three books about the literary basics.
The Gods That Failed
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)
Forgotten Scenes
William Cooper, Scenes from Provincial Life (Penguin, 1950)
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing: Welcome to Post-Gay
You may have already forgotten Canada’s let’s-hope-it’s-final debate about same-sex marriage and other affections. It happened way back when, a couple of weeks ago, or in the media’s amnesiac timeline, in a previous lifetime. Here’s what nobody bothered to say about it.
Apples and Oranges
Are literary comparisons odious? Can we compare novels and non-fiction? Why not?