Claire Conger

I tried hard to read Sue Monk Kidd’s The Mermaid Chair and I just couldn’t do it. I got through 30 or so pages of the paperback and gave up, then I got through two discs on the sound recording and gave up. Why could I not read this book?

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I just finished listening to Great Ideas of Classical Physics CDs (The Great Courses). At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to listen to it, but about fifteen minutes in, Steven Pollock’s voice took on a soothing familiarity that made me want to hear more.

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Have you ever had someone say that you were wasting your talent? Or the reverse, that you must not have genius because your work is so, well, popular?

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When I saw Steve Martin on the cover of Parade Magazine with the caption “Even in tough times you can afford to laugh,” I thought He’s a millionaire, what could he know about hard times?

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This morning, NPR science writer Joe Palca called creationism a “theory” and Darwin’s ideas “notions.” Now I think he’s got that backwards! (Darwin, Britain’s Hero, Is Still Controversial in U.S.)

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