Junk Shop Window
Essays on Myth, Life, and Literature
A visit to the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, England, results in a meeting with a telepathic dog. A trip to see the Irish Rovers on St Patrick’s Day becomes slapstick worthy of the I Love Lucy Show, An attempt to record the right background sounds for a Sherlock Holmes radio play opens a doorway in time to the world of a century ago. And Hermes, the Greek messenger god, appears in various guises, relaying sometimes cryptic, sometimes life-saving messages.
Junk Shop Window is getting so much praise from reviewers and interviewers! Take a look at these:
A rave review by Pulizter-prize winning critic Michael Dirda in The Washington Post:
Another rave by poet and scholar Charles Rammelkmap in The Hopkins Review:
A delightful interview with the author by fiction writer Leslie Pietrzyk on her acclaimed blog, To Be Read:
A probing, insightful interview with Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri on her award-winning radio show, The Poet and the Poem:
And a heart-felt, lovely interview with poet and activist Ethelbert Miller on his weekly WPF literary show, On the Margin:
Meet James J. Patterson
James J. Patterson was born in Washington, DC, five days before Nixon’s infamous “Checkers Speech.” He’s been lurking about in what he calls “The Capital of the Empire” ever since.
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Pat Buchanan Is Un-American
“I don’t believe there’s a great salvation in (our) political process at all. I believe in far different things. I mean, I put Democracy far down the line. I think a devoutly Christian, Conservative, Traditionalist country, even if it’s a Monarchy, is fine with me.” Pat Buchanan on Hardball with Chris Mathews 6-18-09 …And No…
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Mark Zaid Is My Hero
Mark Zaid was given a traffic ticket in Montgomery County, MD, recently for flashing his headlights back in thanks to a driver who warned him about a speed trap. He was fined fifty bucks. He took it to court and won when the officer failed to appear. Mr. Zaid’s Remarkable Heroism Is Chronicled Here. Let’s…
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This Depressing Downturn
Anyone who owned a home during the last ten years remembers one thing very well: The avalanche of junk mail assaulting us with spectacular offers to take advantage of rising home equity. If nothing else, these crooks should be contributing cash to support landfills and recycling systems, not to mention planting a few billion trees!…
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Anna Nicole by Grace Cavalieri
“You were positively loathsome,” theatre-goers said as they shook James J Patterson’s hand while exiting the Al Lefcowitz Theatre at The Writer’s Center, in Bethesda, Md, after viewing a staged reading of the new play Anna Nicole, by Grace Cavalieri. See a brief review and pictures here! I was able to deflect attention away from…
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Patterson Reads At The 2009 Oxford Fringe Festival!
Every spring, Oxford University puts on a literary festival like no other, and the legendary Blackwell’s Book Shop, lead by the incomparable Rita Ricketts, sponsors a Fringe Festival to coincide with it. This year, James J Patterson read from his forthcoming book of essays and fiction, Bermuda Shorts, a little story called, “Something Out of Nothing.”…
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Honk If You Want Rush Limbaugh To Fail!
Republicans have become like mean little Boy Scouts gone wrong. They no longer wish to help granny cross the street, they won’t share their dessert, and they refuse to sit with the foreign kid at school. Now, like mean little brats, they openly decree that if they can’t play Captain, they want to sink the…
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Poet Rose Solari on Hockey!
Rose Solari, Poet Extraordinaire, inspired by the recent NHL All-Star Game, has unearthed a terrific piece she once did for the legendary SportsFan Magazine! It’s called, “How the New Age Movement Drove Me to the National Hockey League!” Enjoy!
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Happy Birthday Thomas Paine!
January 29th is the 273rd birthday of the man who gave our country the name, “The United States of America.” In the 1820’s, more than a decade after his ignominious death, admirers of Thomas Paine began a tradition of meeting in pubs around the world on his birthday to raise a glass to the man…
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Patterson’s Vagabonds Top Ten II
A Post Day One Priority Schedule! Want to save some money? Here are the Vagabond’s Ideas For Obama and the New Congress to consider: 1. Close Guantanamo and end USA sponsored torture. Tell the word that such a thing will never happen again. 2. Get a law enacted that prevents US companies from exporting jobs to…
