The Polar Bear Expedition

Over the past decade, author James Carl Nelson has filled a lamentable gap and made a niche for himself writing about America’s forgotten war, the First World War.Two books with detailed titles — “I Will Hold. The Story of USMC Legend Clifton B. Cates, from Belleau Wood to Victory in the Great War” and “The Remains of Company D. A Story of the Great War … Continue reading The Polar Bear Expedition

Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome

As a reviewer, I’ve read a lot of entries in what I might call the “foreign woman living in Italy genre,” always with deep wariness. Unless the author was Shirley Hazzard writing about Naples (“Greene on Capri,” 2000; “The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples,” with Frances Steegmuller, 2008). No wonder my guard was up when the first chapters of physician Susan Levenstein’s “Dottoressa. An American Doctor … Continue reading Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome

Thursday Night, the University Club

When you have a regular writing assignment such as this column, your brain runs a constant background search for the next topic, sometimes with surprising results. For some unknown quirk of free association, Thursday night dinners at the University Club in the small, midwestern city where I grew up in appeared in my brain’s search bar. Had I smelled roast beef, the club’s only menu … Continue reading Thursday Night, the University Club

What You Can and Cannot See

The highlight of my 2018 was a trip to France to commemorate the centenary of the World War I Armistice, signed on Nov. 11, 1918. I was in a group with 13 other descendants of U.S. Marine veterans who fought in that war. Our guide was Gilles Lagin, Honorary Marine, all around mensch and encyclopedia of everything “Devil Dog” (as the World War I Marines became known). … Continue reading What You Can and Cannot See

The Greening of Catalogue Culture

As if the early snow and cold snap and leftover turkey sandwiches weren’t enough, now it’s the Christmas catalogs clogging my mailbox, announcing more holidays just around the corner. As a child, catalogs were one of the season’s many treats. But the glossy paper delights had a bittersweet, guilty tone not shared by ordinary seasonal delights such as eggnog or carols. My frugal parents disdained … Continue reading The Greening of Catalogue Culture