The Joy Of The Dead

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Sometimes we revisit a beloved book or movie many years later only to discover that what had once seemed so magnificent now seems, well, kind of meh. Such was the case for me with the novel Catcher in the Rye and the movie Bringing Up Baby. Oh, there were wonderful moments in each, but nothing that came close to…
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Sex, Torture, and Montaigne

Posted on by Michael Kahn
As I skim through my various posts this year, I’ve noticed a pattern: a fascination with literary evidence that confirms the prophecy of Ecclesiastes: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Or, stated differently, all those literary devices you think are so cool and au couranthave…
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Two More Wise Men on Immortality

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Following up on my last post on immortality, I wanted to share some deep thoughts on the topic from two wise men–one dead for nearly two millennia, the other still hanging in there. First, Marcus Aurelius, who died in the year 180 A.D. He wrote in his Meditations: “He who has a vehement desire for…
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Woody Allen, the Bard, and Immortality

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Woody Allen was once asked whether he hoped to achieve immortality through his movies or his writings. After a moment’s reflection, he answered, “I hope to achieve immortality by not dying.” I thought of those words as my wife Margi and I took our lawn seats under the stars in Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park…
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“If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On”

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Under a beautiful night sky in the Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park, Margi and I enjoyed one of those perfect St. Louis evenings: a full moon overhead, warm breezes, chilled wine, delicious picnic dinner, and a brilliant and hilarious production of Twelfth Night by the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Everything about the production—the cast, the set…
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Mysteries and the Unreliable Narrator

Posted on by Michael Kahn
As a trial lawyer by day and an author by night, I don’t find the “unreliable narrator” an abstract concept. Indeed, I have been mulling over the subject for awhile. I have already posted some musings on this website, but I realized that the topic is particularly relevant to those of us who write or read mystery novels….
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