Ann Anderson Evans

BOOK REVIEW: STARTING WITH GOOD-BYE

Lisa Romeo’s new memoir, STARTING WITH GOOD-BYE, is an Everywoman’s tale. My father was not like her father, but her story is mine, and will resonate with all women who realize too late that their father would have been, if they had ever been able to talk to each other without bickering, their best advisor,Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW: STARTING WITH GOOD-BYE”

Beyond Grammar: Grammar and Meaning

Grammatical correctness and meaning are two separate functions, and they don’t always coexist. Noam Chomsky devised a sentence with perfect grammar and no meaning: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. It is also possible to devise a sentence which a listener or reader can understand though it is grammatically incorrect. Another reason why he dislikes lotsContinue reading “Beyond Grammar: Grammar and Meaning”

BOOK REVIEW: WALDEN

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is an iconic Yankee manifesto. I am a Yankee, yet I had never read it. I opened it expecting a clarification of our American spirit, like reading Walt Whitman. As a memoirist, I found a similarity between his book and my own; man/woman goes into unfamiliar territory with the express intentionContinue reading “BOOK REVIEW: WALDEN”

Beyond Grammar: Gun talk in America

There has to be a cultural change before the gun violence subsides, and that change is in our own hands in a way that legislation is not. Just as we are changing our culture by revising language regarding race and gender, we might revisit our use of gun language. The first step is to increase our awarenessContinue reading “Beyond Grammar: Gun talk in America”

Some advice from an older generation

The protesters of my generation (we came of age in the 60s and early 70s) have two lessons for the powerful generation standing up for all of us these days: 1) by uniting around solid ideas, you can be effective, and 2) the forces against you are powerful, militant, and may overcome you. We marched,Continue reading “Some advice from an older generation”

BOOK REVIEW: The Idiot, by Elif Batuman

This book can be read on many levels – for a linguist like me, its linguistic observations were a blast of fresh air, for a historian it is rich with commentary, and for a writer or avid reader, the allusions are legion, including the title, which pays homage to the eponymous novel by Dostoevsky. (MyContinue reading “BOOK REVIEW: The Idiot, by Elif Batuman”

Virginia Woolf: How Jane Austen worked

“Jane Austen wrote like that until the end of her days. ‘How she was able to effect all this,’ her nephew writes in his memoir, ‘is surprising, for she had no separate study to repair to, and most of the work must have been done in the general sitting room, subject to all kinds ofContinue reading “Virginia Woolf: How Jane Austen worked”

Virginia Woolf: Homage to those who went before

Many unsung women are responsible for the benefits women enjoy today.

Virginia Woolf: Women could make money by writing

Women progressed once they could make money by writing.

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