General Essays

I’m working on a theory that I introduced in my Stendhal wrap-up essays that I believe applies across my work. It goes something like this: Many of the most important decisions we make in life are ultimately inexplicable. They are driven by feelings, held deeply in our nervous system,

One of the interesting similarities between Montaigne, Shakespeare and Tolstoy is that all of them have flashes of romanticism — especially when speaking of youth — but then deeply unhappy descriptions of marriages, both in stories and personal reflections. Montaigne was often reticent to admit to having any romantic feelings at all.

Recently I did some work on my Stendhal project, pulled all the pieces together and wrote a front-piece connecting essay. I liked how that all turned out and mused elsewhere on this site that maybe I could go back to Stendhal and complete a book project on “On Love.” After

Building off my last essay about the current state of my projects, it’s also important to keep in mind when assessing my writing these days that I have a day job. Between my professional and personal work, I think I’m working harder right now than I ever have

I occasionally like to take stock of my writing projects, just as a form of internal expectations setting and reality check. Here’s how it all stands right now. First, I don’t know if anyone notices, recognizes or agrees, but I’m very happy with the formats of my