"Saint Paul's Journeys into Philosophy," Vancouver School of Theology, University of British Columbia, June 4-6, 2008.

Join us for a conference which explores the critical appropriations of Saint Paul by recent and contemporary Continental philosophers, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Benjamin, Jacob Taubes, Alain Badiou, Giorgio Agamben, Slavoj Zizek, and others. An international group of philosophers, theologians, biblical scholars and literary theorists will present papers on a wide range of themes arising from this recent philosophical appropriation of Saint Paul. Plenary speakers include Stephen Fowl, Paul Griffiths, Travis Kroeker and J. Louis Martyn. There will also be presentations by Creston Davis, Neil Elliott, Paul Gooch, Douglas Harink, Chris Huebner, Mark Reasoner, Jeffrey Robbins, Gordon Zerbe, Jens Zimmerman and others. For conference, travel and accommodations information, including speakers, abstracts, schedules, and registration forms (early registration fees in effect until April 15) visit our webpage at: http://www.kingsu.ca/saintpaul/ or contact Doug Harink: Douglas Harink Professor of Theology The King's University College 9125-50 St. Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA T6B 2H3 Ph. (780) 465-3500, ext 8062 Fax (780) 465-3534 E-mail: doug.harink@kingsu.ca.

CFP: "Philosophy and Divine Speculation," 3rd Annual Conference, Prometheus Trust, Glastonbury, Somerset, July 3-6, 2008.

Plato in his Timaeus (53d) sees the path of philosophy as leading to a knowledge of eternal principles which are “known to Divinity and to the man who is in friendship with Divinity” while Thomas Taylor begins his introduction to the Works of Plato by comparing philosophy with “a luminous pyramid, terminating in Deity and having as its basis the rational soul of man.” In these terms philosophy involves both a speculative investigation of highest origins of the universe and, more importantly, the means whereby the human may regain the vision or speculation of eternal truth as described in the Phaedrus – “There are many, therefore, and blessed spectacles and processions within the heavens, to which the genus of the blessed Gods is converted” and which we “partly see indeed, and are partly destitute of vision.” This conference will, we hope, explore the ancient discipline of divine philosophy, as well as attempt to see how modern developments in philosophy can be reset, so to speak, within its original purpose. Papers are invited from lovers of wisdom - academics and non-academics - in the following areas:

• Epopteia - Philosophy and the Mysteries: the final stage of the mysteries of Eleusis was known as Epopteia - interior inspection: Plato draws upon the insights and experiences of the mysteries, notably in the Phaedo, to show how they are allied to those of philosophy. Papers exploring the relationship between the various mystery centres of the ancient world and its leading philosophical systems, together with those examining what this might mean for today's philosophers, are sought for this area.
• Philosophy and Contemplation: the exercise of philosophy, although often seen as a conversation with others, is primarily a movement inwards towards the simple self and the Divinity concealed within - the "alone calling to the alone." But this is a difficult matter for the teacher of philosophy to pass on to the pupil, and while the East still promulgates contemplative and meditative practices within its various philosophical systems, this is largely neglected in the West. How is this to be remedied? How are we to follow Plotinus when he writes, "But soul, perpetually turning round intellect, which it constantly beholds, and viewing its most intimate recesses, contemplates through this also, as a mirror, the supreme divinity, The Good Itself, and in this delightful employment the tranquil and blessed life of the gods consists..." Ennead I, iv, 2.
• Philosophy, Mythology and the Divine Drama: philosophy developed and matured in a culture deeply embedded in myth and religious cultus, where both human and cosmic life was deemed to follow a pattern first unfolded by the Gods. For many the relationship between the metaphysical reality of the Gods and the invented stories of their generation and dramas presents difficulties: but can philosophy's deepest truths be understood without approaching it as inseparable from its ancient twin?

The conference will take place over three days, with each day being directed one of the above areas. Keynote Address: The keynote address, “Lifting from a Wave of Intellect” will be given by Tim Addey on Thursday evening. The Thomas Taylor Lecture: On Saturday evening, Dr Steve Critchley will be giving the 3rd Thomas Taylor Lecture, entitled “Thomas Taylor and the Fire of Mystical Inspiration in Prose, Poetry and Prayer.” This annual lecture is given in honour of Thomas Taylor, and this year, the 250th anniversary of his birth, we think it fitting that it should centre on the man himself. Steve has recently been awarded a doctorate by the University of York for his thesis on “Pagan Taylor: the Emergence of a Public Character 1785-1804.” He is at present working on a full biography of Thomas Taylor which is likely to be published later this year. Full details are to be found on the Trust’s website http://www.prometheustrust.co.uk/.

CFP: "Teaching Philosophy Through Film (and Vice-Versa)," FILM AND PHILOSOPHY 13 (2008).

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Pedagogical techniques for teaching philosophy through film;
• What does it mean to approach a film philosophically?
• Discussions of particular films that illustrate metaphysical, epistemological or ethical issues in ways that are pedagogically useful;
• Are some films just inherently philosophical (and hence good learning tools for teaching philosophy)?
• What is gained (and/or lost) from showing films in philosophy classes (are we watering them down by using films)?
• What unique contributions to film appreciation and evaluation can philosophy make?

Submissions should be from 2,500 to 7,500 words, following the Chicago Manual of Style, using endnotes that contain the relevant bibliographic information (please no separate bibliography or reference list). Please send your article in WORD format to Managing Editor Daniel Shaw at dshaw@lhup.edu(website: www.lhup.edu/dshaw).

Deadline: June 30, 2008.

Annual Conference, Society for Ricoeur Studies, Duquesne University, October 15-16, 2008.

Papers addressing all aspects of Ricoeur’s work are welcome. Submission Deadline: June 30, 2008. Submission Instructions: For purposes of consideration, please submit an abstract only (of roughly 300-500 words) and attach a separate title page that includes the paper’s title, the author’s name, institutional affiliation, mailing address, and email address. Abstracts will be reviewed blind by a committee. Notification of acceptance will be given via email. Final papers should not exceed a length of 3000 words. Abstracts should be sent to: Professor Dan Stiver at dstiver@hsutx.edu.

PUB: INDO-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF PHENOMENOLOGY 7.2 (2007).

• Editorial by Professor C. R. Stones, Editor-in-Chief, Rhodes University, South Africa
• Interpretive Hermeneutic Phenomenology: Clarifying Understanding by Ann Holroyd, Malaspina University College, Vancouver Island, Canada
• Gadamer’s Hermeneutic Contribution to a Theory of Time-Consciousness by Professor David Vessey, Collegiate Division of the Humanities, University of Chicago, USA
• Sympathy and the Non-human: Max Scheler’s Phenomenology of Interrelation by David Dillard-Wright, Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina (Aiken), USA
• Husserl, the Monad and Immortality by Dr Paul MacDonald, Department of Philosophy, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
• The Nature of Belief and the Method of Its Justification in Husserl’s Philosophy by Assistant Professor Carlos Sanchez, Department of Philosophy, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
• The Limitations of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapies of Suicidality from an Existential-Phenomenological Perspective by Gabriel Rossouw, Psychologist, New Zealand
• Domestic Temporalities: Sensual Patterning in Persian Migratory Landscapes by Dr Simone Dennis, Department of Anthropology, University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and Dr Megan Warin Medical Anthropologist, Durham University, UK
• Exploring Touch Communication Between Coaches and Athletes by Michael Miller, Graduate instructor, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Noah Franken, Graduate Instructor, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Kit Kiefer, Graduate Student, Communication Department, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, USA
• Book Review: Embodied Enquiry Les Todres (2007). Embodied Enquiry: Phenomenological Touchstones for Research, Psychotherapy and Spirituality. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Click here for further details: http://www.ipjp.org/.

McCluskey, Colleen. "Review of Judith Chelius Stark, ed. FEMINIST INTERPRETATIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE." NDPR April 6, 2008.

Stark, Judith Chelius, ed. Feminist Interpretations of Augustine. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 2007. . . . Augustine's legacy is a mixed one. As some of the authors point out, Augustine's views on women were not as extreme as some of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, his views are bad enough, and his tremendous influence both in the history of the church and upon current church doctrine and attitudes must not be underestimated or dismissed as anachronistic. On the other hand, as many of the authors also point out, Augustine's texts remain interesting and fruitful, both for increasing our understanding of our intellectual heritage and as a more positive resource for feminist work. There is a tendency among feminists (and philosophers in at least some quarters) to dismiss the medieval period as uninteresting and lacking in philosophical value. As a medievalist (and a feminist), I have come to appreciate the intellectual work of the Middle Ages, both as engaging in its own right and as a valuable source of insight for my own work and my own life. At the very least, it is clear that examining the history of philosophy is important to understand the social/cultural legacy we have inherited for better or for worse. It is incumbent upon us as scholars to clarify the fundamental positions of this inheritance, allowing it to stand (as much as we are able) on its own terms in all its glory and failures. Anything else is, in my view, intellectually dishonest. I see this collection of essays, and Penn State's Rereading the Canon series in general, as an attempt to do just that. From my perspective, the book succeeds marvelously in its purpose. This is a book that anyone who has a sincere desire to come to terms with Augustine's legacy and its impact on the lives of both women and men ought to consider reading. Read the entire review here: http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=12824.

"Giving Voice to Other Beings," Vanderbilt University, May 2-4, 2008.

Few would contest the claim that formal democratic institutions are failing us politically. Inconvenient voices are often marginalized, and representation is all too easily gamed or corrupted. But there is an alternative to despair: to resuscitate and develop the grassroots conversations and connections through which we can come to respond to the needs of all our neighbors. In the case of the non-human stakeholders on the planet, we never had the illusion of democratic participation, but the possibilities of informal listening, noticing, engagement, conversation and even representation are no less compelling. We may not be able to establish a parliament of all beings, or an ecological democracy, but do not other species, tribes of a quite different ilk, make claims on us for systematic respect and consideration? As the rate of species extinction accelerates, and the web of life begins to come apart, what once looked like an ethical option is starting to look like a condition for our own survival. This interdisciplinary conference will look at questions of representation (religious, legal, literary, philosophical), along with the whole range of our communication and engagement with non-humans, and with the ethical and 'spiritual' dimensions of these questions. For further information, please visit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csrc/giving-voice/.

CFP: "The Popular," Inaugural World Picture Conference, Oklahoma State University, October 24-25, 2008.

Keynote Speakers: Ernesto Laclau and Lauren Berlant. The World Picture conference is an annual meeting devoted to theory that takes place in the intimate setting of Stillwater, Oklahoma. This year’s meeting will gather theorists from around the world, and from across disciplines, to address questions of the popular. We are accepting proposals for papers that address this issue in any number of ways. Some possible topics might include, but are not limited to: Heteronomy/Autonomy Populism Styles of the Popular The Unpopular Hegemony and Style Metaphor and the Masses Intimacy Citizenship Revolution Sentimentality The Public and the Popular Further information may be found here: http://english.okstate.edu/worldpicture/Conference.html.

PUB: "Jargon." WORLD PICTURE 1 (2008).

Table of Contents: Peggy Ahwesh 73 Suspect Words Jonathan Beller Imperial Jive (A One-Act Theoretical Essay) Richard Cante Giving an Account of One's Jargon Scott Durham On the Authenticity of Jargon: From Barthes and Adorno to Godard Hugh S. Manon The Jouissance of Jargon Brian Price Writing at the Limits of Reason John David Rhodes Talking Ugly Keston Sutherland Marx in Jargon Meghan Sutherland The Word for a Thousand Pictures Martin Wallen Iambic Phalloi in Pinque, or, The Jargon of Idiots versus the Idiom of Ruritania Brian Price and Meghan Sutherland On Debord, Then and Now: An Interview with Oliver Assayas Brian Price and Meghan Sutherland The Art of Impurity: An Interview with Emmanuel Bourdieu Visit the journal website here: http://www.worldpicturejournal.com/.

PUB: "The Spirit of the Age: Hegel and the Fate of Thinking." COSMOS AND HISTORY 2-3 (2007).

Drawing on Hegel’s claim that ‘it belongs to the weakness of our time not to be able to bear the greatness, the immensity of the claims made by the human spirit, to feel crushed before them, and to flee from them faint-hearted’, this essay explores the possibility of a renewed encounter with Hegel’s thought. Arguing that it is not the acceptance or rejection of the lessons of Hegel’s thought that is important, but rather that ever since Hegel, philosophers are challenged to experience philosophy as such as the happening of the spirit of the age. It further asks the question how is it that the spirit of the age might emerge in an otherwise spiritless age? From this perspective the question for us is whether philosophizing today has the power to generate a level of intensity, not so much for the spirit of our own age to emerge clearly and distinctively, but for the spirit of the age to emerge at all. Perhaps, instead, the real issue for those of us who come after Hegel is whether we are strong enough to intensify and withstand the intensity that Hegel’s thinking has already released. From this perspective to encounter the spirit of the age can be neither to look for it in the developments of the twenty-first century world nor to produce a radically new philosophy. The essay suggests that the fate of those of us who follow the arriving of Hegel, the revolutionary thinker, is to face the challenge of dwelling in his arriving. Download the issue here: http://www.cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/issue/view/12.

Howard, Jennifer. "A Question of Evidence, or a Leap of Faith [on Coleridge]?" CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION March 28, 2008.

Did he or didn't he? The question is vexing Coleridge scholars. Did the author of "Christabel," "Kubla Khan," and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" compose a blank-verse translation of Goethe's Faust that was published anonymously in London in 1821? Two prominent Romanticists, Frederick Burwick and James C. McKusick, both Americans, believe they have clinched the case for Coleridge, settling a debate that stretches back decades. Last November, Oxford University Press published their edition of the 1821 translation, a partial rendering of Goethe's masterpiece about a scholar who sells his soul to Mephistopheles. The volume arrived with a provocatively definitive title: Faustus, From the German of Goethe, Translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Burwick and McKusick are not upstarts who hope to make their names by advancing wild claims; they have toiled long years in the vineyards of Romantic scholarship. Burwick is a professor emeritus of English at the University of California at Los Angeles. His co-editor is a professor of English at the University of Montana as well as dean of Davidson Honors College there. Now a group of equally eminent British scholars — Roger Paulin, William St Clair, and Elinor Shaffer — has stepped forward to dispute Burwick and McKusick's claim. Paulin is an emeritus professor of German at the University of Cambridge. St Clair, formerly of Trinity College Cambridge, and Shaffer are both affiliated with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. He is a senior research fellow in the Institute of English Studies there, and she holds the same title in the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies. In late February, they published an online review essay, "A Gentleman of Literary Eminence," on the School of Advanced Study's Web site. "The case that Faustus is a work by Coleridge has not been made," they assert in that essay. "This volume is not what it appears to be. Nor is it consistent with the normal standards of Oxford University Press." . . .

Mayes, Tessa. "Mill is a Dead White Male with Something to Say." SPIKED REVIEW OF BOOKS 11 (March 2008).

Mill’s own ‘harm principle’ is frequently cited to justify bans and restrictions today. He invented the ‘harm principle’ in his political tract On Liberty in 1859, where he argues: "The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant" (1). In his excellent, well-timed biography of Mill, British author and commentator Richard Reeves argues that being quoted by both sides in something like the smoking debate "would have pleased" Mill (2). Mill was the public intellectual who believed that truth is discovered through argument rather than being established from on high, so that ideas become a ‘living truth’ through debate rather than a ‘dead dogma’ handed down by our superiors. And as Reeves draws out in his biography, Mill also revelled in intellectual eclecticism. He thought the truth lay somewhere in opposing arguments. As he wrote in On Liberty: "Conflicting doctrines, instead of the one being true and the other false, share the truth between them" (3). Just for the record, he didn’t mean, in a pre-PC relativistic fashion, that ‘all truths are equal’, but rather that truth is arrived at through the clash of ideas, the changing and tempering of views through open debate, rather than being set in authoritarian stone. . . . Read the rest here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewofbooks_article/4923.

Macintyre, Ben. "Nietzsche and his Nazi Sister." TIMES March 28, 2008.

Two gravestones stand side by side in the churchyard of the little village of Röcken, south of Leipzig: one belongs to Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the greatest and most misunderstood philosophers; the other marks the grave of his sister Elisabeth, a lifelong anti-Semite who hijacked her brother's writings after his death and used them to serve the cause of Nazism, leaving a stain on his philosophy that has never been fully erased. . . . Read the rest here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article3634609.ece.

Boyes, Roger. "Friedrich Nietzsche's Grave Under Threat from Search for Brown Coal." TIMES March 26, 2008.

Friedrich Nietzsche declared famously that “God is dead!” so it is probably safe to assume that he did not much care what happened to his skeleton. Which may be just as well as bulldozers prepare to turn over the philosopher's grave and his birthplace in search of brown coal. . . . More here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3621725.ece.

BBC Radio 4: Melvyn Bragg's IN OUR TIME podcast: Søren Kierkegaard.

In 1840 a young Danish girl called Regine Olsen got engaged to her sweetheart – a modish and clever young man called Søren Kierkegaard. The two were deeply in love but soon the husband to be began to have doubts. He worried that he couldn’t make Regine happy and stay true to himself and his dreams of philosophy. It was a terrible dilemma, but Kierkegaard broke off the engagement – a decision from which neither he nor his fiancée fully recovered. This unhappy episode has become emblematic of the life and thought of Søren Kierkegaard - a philosopher who confronted the painful choices in life and who understood the darker modes of human existence. Yet Kierkegaard is much more than the gloomy Dane of reputation. A thinker of wit and elegance, his ability to live with paradox and his desire to think about individuals as free have given him great purchase in the modern world and he is known as the father of Existentialism.

Contributors:

• Jonathan Rée, Visiting Professor at Roehampton University and the Royal College of Art
• Clare Carlisle, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool
• John Lippitt, Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Hertfordshire

Further information, including the podcast, here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20080320.shtml.

CFP: "The Early Twentieth-Century Crisis in Psychology: Causes, Contexts, and Consequences," Max Planck Institute, October 10-12, 2008.

Since Franz Brentano in 1874 complained that psychology had split into many divergent approaches, the state of psychology has been often characterized as a crisis. These concerns were particularly strongly expressed around 1910-1930 by psychologists who were building new research paradigms that have determined the course of psychology ever since. Many researchers and thinkers-such as Karl Bühler, Hans Driesch, Kurt Koffka,William Stern, Lev Vygotsky, Nikolai Kostyleff, Mary Whiton Calkins, N. N.Lange, S. L. Frank, Edmund Husserl, and a group of Marxist psychologists in Berlin-directly wrote on the crisis in psychology and in related disciplines. This debate involved a reaction against the high expectations connected to the new, experimental research practices established since the 1870s, and it centrally concerned the disciplinary constitution of psychology in relation to the humanities and the natural sciences. The goal of this conference is to reconstruct the debate between competing schools and paradigms in psychology (and neighboring disciplines) from the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, to analyze historical contexts in which particular positions evolved, and to explore the current relevance of the debate. We invite the submission of papers on these and related topics. Preference will be given to papers that address the connection between methodological issues in the history of psychology and social context. We particularly welcome contributions that relate to William James, Karl Bühler, Kurt Koffka, Rudolf Willy, Hans Driesch, and Otto Rühle. The conference will be held in English. Please send papers or abstracts (800-1,000 words) by 1 July 2008 to thefollowing address: lhyman@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de For further information, please contact: Ludmila Hyman Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte Boltzmannstraße 2214195 Berlin Telefon (+4930) 22667-138 Telefax (+4930) 22667-248 Email: lhyman@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de lhyman@archimedes.fas.harvard.edu Thomas Sturm Research Fellow Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Boltzmannstr. 22D-14195 Berlin, Germany Fon: 030/22667-144 Fax: 030/22667-293 Email: tsturm@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

CFP: "Reading After Empire: Local, Global and Diaspora Audiences," Devolving Diasporas Research Project, Stirling University, September 3-5, 2008.

How should we read colonial and postcolonial texts? Is reading an act of resistance, or the domestication of difference? Does postcolonial studies posit an 'ideal reader'? What (if anything) are the differences between local, national and transnational audiences? How can we ever adequately interpret the imperial archive? This conference focuses on the neglected but central role of reading in colonial, postcolonial and diasporic contexts. It uses reading in its broadest sense (e.g. as reception, viewing, consumption,translation) to raise questions about the politics, and the pleasures, of interpretation. We are interested in both empirical and theoretical accounts of readers and audiences across a range of genres (e.g. literary, cinematic, televisual, internet-based) and contexts (e.g. libraries, living rooms, cinemas, book groups, chat rooms). Titles and abstracts of no more than 200 words should be sent electronically, along with a 50-word biography, by March 31st 2008 to Bethan Benwell (b.m.benwell@stir.ac.uk). Suggested topics might include: contrapuntal reading; imagined and interpretive communities; catachresis; the postcolonial exotic; literacy; reception as a situated activity; colonial libraries; postcolonial history of thebook; nationalism and hermeneutics; readers within fiction and film; reading and ethics. Conference details, including Registration Forms, will follow shortly at: www.devolvingdiasporas.com/conferences.htm.

Price, Matthew. "Outsider Artist [on Alfred Kazin]." BOOK FORUM (February/March 2008)

In his early twenties, Kazin set up in room 315 of the New York Public Library and burrowed himself deeply into the American grain for the epic 1942 study On Native Grounds, which was hailed by Lionel Trilling and which read like the culminating work of a senior scholar, not the debut of a neophyte. And this was only the beginning. Kazin soared to the top of the freelance pack in the ’50s and ’60s, had friendships and fallings-out with a who’s who of the thinking classes—Richard Hofstadter, Saul Bellow, Hannah Arendt, Arthur Schlesinger, and Daniel Bell, to name some notable examples—traveled abroad, held visiting professorships galore, and garnered a sparkling reputation as a critic, memoirist, and intellectual. . . . Read the rest here: http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/014_05/2062.

Weiss, Michael. "The Prometheus of American Criticism [on Edmund Wilson]." DEMOCRATIYA (Spring 2008).

Edmund Wilson has been an object of saintly veneration and nostalgia by those old enough to remember when literary critics were arbiters of how people spent their time between meals and work. Who now, in the age of the hatchet job and the shrinking Books section, speaks of 'permanent criticism,' the criticism that endures because it ranks as literature itself? The Library of America has just published Wilson's collected works in an elegant two-volume set spanning the critic's most productive decades—the 20s, 30s and 40s. Coming a year after Lewis Dabney's definitive biography, the resurrection of such sorely missed volumes as The Shores of Light, Axel's Castle and The Wound and the Bow surely qualifies an 'event' publication. Now there's a term the owlish sage of Red Bank would have loathed to no end. . . . Read the rest here: http://www.democratiya.com/review.asp?reviews_id=144.

Thompson, Bob. "Things Fall into Place." WASHINGTON POST March 9, 2008.

In a few days Achebe will travel 110 miles down the Hudson to Town Hall in Manhattan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart. Toni Morrison will speak, as will, among others, his fellow Nigerian-born writers Chris Abani and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Abani will remind the packed house that they've come together "because we are in awe of the way in which one human being's imagination can intervene in all our lives." But right now, the owner of that life-shaping imagination is trying to explain that he is not entirely certain just how Things Fall Apart came into the world. "It's a little mysterious in some ways," he says. The book "seized me, and almost wrote me. I'm not quite sure I wrote it." . . . The whole article is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030700987.html?sub=new.