America’s Church: The National Shrine and Catholic Presence in the Nation’s Capital by Thomas A. Tweed

On September 3, 2011, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Travel, by Editor

The National Shrine in Washington, DC has been deeply loved, blithely ignored, and passionately criticized. It has been praised as a “dazzling jewel” and dismissed as a “towering Byzantine beach ball.” In this intriguing and inventive book, Thomas Tweed shows that the Shrine is also an illuminating site from which to tell the story of twentieth-century Catholicism.

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Literary Capital: A Washington Reader by Christopher Sten

On September 3, 2011, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Travel, by Editor

Literary Capital is great in concept and even better in execution. Christopher Sten has skillfully selected an assortment of the classic and the contemporary, the literary and the reportorial, the appreciative and the denunciatory, in writings about life and habits in Washington.

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Hard Revolution – A Novel by George P. Pelecanos

On August 3, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

The author’s admirers are familiar with middle-aged black PI Derek Strange, featured in several novels (Soul Circus, etc.) so strong that one critic has dubbed Pelecanos the Zola of contemporary crime fiction. This memorable tale is a prequel to those novels, set in Washington, D.C., mostly just before and during the 1968 riots sparked by the killing of Martin Luther King Jr.

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Ben S. Clarke – The Columnist for the Greenfield Recorder And The Real World Lesson

On April 17, 2011, in Greenfield, MA, Politics in Greenfield, Massachusetts, by Editor

Honestly, I had given up reading Ben S. Clarke’s column in the Greenfield Recorder. In my personal opinion, he would be better off writing a book in the range of “All I Really Need To Know I Learn By Watching FOX News.” That’s what it is. His writing is lightyears away from being original. I, the unapologetic liberal, and my wife, the registered Republican, have more intriguing discussions about US politics. Heck, even my almost-four-year-old, who doesn’t have a clue about politics, is more challenging.

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Cheers, Ben S. Clarke, For An Enjoyable Cliff Claven Performance

On March 13, 2011, in Greenfield, MA, Politics in Greenfield, Massachusetts, by Editor

It seems that Ben S. Clarke, a regular contributor to the Greenfield, Massachusetts newspaper – The Recorder, is still on the search of his own identity. He started off as a Washington-DC-based speech writer, but after George 43 there was no more job for him. Once back in his home town he started off as a Rush-Limbaugh-wannabe.

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Ben S. Clarke: Shopping And Dining Far Away From Greenfield, Massachusetts

On January 6, 2011, in Greenfield, MA, The C.A.V.E. people of Greenfield, Massachusetts, by Editor

Ben S. Clarke, whenever he writes, successfully manages to offend, in this current case the entire population of Vermont. In the January 5 edition he condemns Vermont for enforcing speed limits (in fact, he complains like a little, spoiled princess), because he got caught, and now he has to pay a $186 speeding ticket. Yes, the laws do apply to everybody, even Ben S. Clarke.

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The Conservative Greenfielder's Lament

On March 6, 2010, in Greenfield, MA, Life in New England, Politics in Greenfield, Massachusetts, by Editor

I just discussed an article printed in the local newspaper, The Recorder, with my wife. She had kept it for me to read and was interested in my opinion about it. Before I share my – utterly unimportant – opinion, let me quote from the article (March 3, 2010) titled A Conservative’s Lament by Ben Clarke.

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