Christopher J. Scalia

Appointment in Arezzo:  A Friendship with Muriel Spark by alan taylor polygon, 244 pages, $18.95 Muriel Spark Centenary Editions by muriel spark polygon, 4,156 pages, £219.78 A Good Comb:  The Sayings of Muriel Spark edited by penelope jardine new directions, 96 pages, $13.95 One . . . . Continue Reading »

The complications of being a conservative in the academy. Should your conservatism be open or hidden? And what of the provocative call for “affirmative action” for conservatives? Continue Reading »

Wishing our words were tactile,we speak of them like textiles:Dressed-up tales are madeout of whole cloth.A fibber fabricatesas if his lie were a linen.Text is cut from Latin: to weave,what tellers do with tales.A good yarn has many threadsand few loose ends.A well-suited phrase becomesa threadbare . . . . Continue Reading »