Into the Comic Zone
January 13, 2022 | Jim Angehr
From Aristotle through to the present day, many of the smartest minds in the world have sought to define and describe comedy. And they’ve failed. “Why is funny, in fact, funny?,” is a perennially and perplexingly difficult...
The Year in Me-view
January 6, 2022 | Jim Angehr
A handful of loyal Letters To You readers asked me last month to assemble a “what I’ve read this year” post before the end of 2021. I thought that was a horrible idea, and the answer was “no.” Mainly because I was...
All I Wanted for Christmas
December 22, 2021 | Jim Angehr
Kids, if you’re reading, stop here. But if you insist: Santa’s not real. Sure, Santa’s a nice story and all, yet I wonder why we try to keep the Santa dream alive at all costs, even well past the stage when our once little ones...
One Last Christmas
December 15, 2021 | Jim Angehr
Franzen-heads, unite! I haven’t read it yet, but Jonathan Franzen–––he of 2001’s The Corrections-driven instant author fame, and of once upon a time Oprah Winfrey ire–––has come out with a new...
'Zat You, Santy Claus?
December 9, 2021 | Jim Angehr
No one loves a culture warrior, and so, please don’t be that person who tells your Starbucks barista that your name is “Merry Christmas.” Save it for your in-laws! I’m fine with the greeting, “merry...