John L. Murphy

Medievalist turned humanities professor; overconfident accumulator of books & music; overcurious seeker of trivia, quadrivia, esoterica. Despite an incessant teaching load, I manage to devote free time to reading, listening, pondering big ideas while nagged by small ones. I'm at:"Blogtrotter".
‘Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays’ Attempts to Escape the Progress Trap
Books/Reviews

‘Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays’ Attempts to Escape the Progress Trap

By
 / 21 August 2017

Recovering the sacred for a secular mindset, Paul Kingsnorth restores the awe and the caution of the numinous in ”Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist’.

The Fall: New Facts Emerge
Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

The Fall: New Facts Emerge

By
 / 7 August 2017
This type of moody Fall finds favor with longtime fans, but it may put off a newcomer expecting pop ditties, memorable chords, and bouncier melodies.
Stendhal’s ‘Italian Chronicles’ Is a Sordid, Steamy Saga of Sin and Death
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Stendhal’s ‘Italian Chronicles’ Is a Sordid, Steamy Saga of Sin and Death

By
 / 1 August 2017
In the papal lands and amid the Vatican's power plays, brigands, seducers, nobles, and nuns battle it out.
Nick Laird’s ‘Modern Gods’ and Restless Protagonists
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Nick Laird’s ‘Modern Gods’ and Restless Protagonists

By
 / 21 June 2017
Modern Gods veers away from its trajectory, but it lingers askew.
The Black Watch: The Gospel According to John
Music/Music Reviews/Reviews

The Black Watch: The Gospel According to John

By
 / 8 May 2017
The Gospel According to John preaches assertive vocals over intense guitars.
Alexander Theroux’s ‘Einstein’s Beets’ Is an Acquired Taste
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Alexander Theroux’s ‘Einstein’s Beets’ Is an Acquired Taste

By
 / 1 May 2017
Einstein's Beets digs up animal and spiritual drives that lure us to gorge and stir us to gag.
The Sexual, the Female, and the Forbidden Beckoned: ‘The Oxford History of Witchcraft & Magic’
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

The Sexual, the Female, and the Forbidden Beckoned: ‘The Oxford History of Witchcraft & Magic’

By
 / 13 April 2017
It is hoped this solid anthology of level-headed observation will supplant spurious New Age-tinged assertions as well as lurid "exposés".
Between Comfort and Threat, Thriving and Despair: Stories From Iceland
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Between Comfort and Threat, Thriving and Despair: Stories From Iceland

By
 / 31 March 2017
The affluence enjoyed by many in these pages pales before the ultimate mysteries suffusing the island.
Sebastian Barry Balances Beauty With Horror in ‘Days Without End’
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Sebastian Barry Balances Beauty With Horror in ‘Days Without End’

By
 / 28 March 2017
Dramatizing an omnipresent American imperial force, this picaresque yarn speaks for its perpetrators and victims.
Transience Permeates the Introspective Pages in ‘Turkey Rediscovered’
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Transience Permeates the Introspective Pages in ‘Turkey Rediscovered’

By
 / 16 January 2017
Where Job scraped his sores, where Xenophon crossed the Euphrates, Krause Reichert links the stories he knows well to their terrain and traces.
‘Wayward Heroes’ and Cold War Iceland
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

‘Wayward Heroes’ and Cold War Iceland

By
 / 24 October 2016
Wayward Heroes, for all its tangled itinerary, endures in this long-awaited translation as a cautionary tale for all who flock around despots or who applaud the cries of die-hards.
Punk on Paper: One Page Per Item, 550 Artifacts
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Punk on Paper: One Page Per Item, 550 Artifacts

By
 / 11 October 2016
Oh So Pretty's value lies among those images that challenge a quickly stultifying norm.