Vergil, Plato, Augustine, Dante, Goethe, Austen, Melville – are theirs all “great books?” By common designation they are. What about  Dickens, James, Hemingway, Cocteau and Mickey Spillane? The later group may be more immediately enjoyable than the former.  But here are two professors of literature who joined us in 2005 with a great discussion of the great books concept and, at the same time, presented some exciting passages from some of the books they think to be truly great. And they can and do tell you why!!

That’s the title of a wonderfully outspoken book by John Silber who was, for many years, the President of Boston University. Architecture is, of course, the most public of the arts. You can put a bad painting in the basement but  not a bad building. Always an outspoken critic, Silber finds many modern buildings that he would like to have torn down. In this discussion from 2008 he identifies and describes them and names the names of their designers, And to my mind, his judgments are absolutely correct!

Having already done books on most of the negative virtues, Joseph Epstein did another masterwork back in 2002. It was a hilarious analysis of how we try to lord it over one another by faking superior wisdom, importance and influence. Here he joins us together with John Anderson of the Tribune, an expert on “high society,” as they indulge their knowledge of snobology with tales from the front lines of pretention and high arrogance.

Or, at least, who tried to acquire all important knowledge by reading every word of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This ambitious young fellow, Alan Jacobs, then wrote an amusing book about his project and in 2004 discussed what he had learned while the proprietor challenged the limits of his and the EB’s knowledge. A good time was had by all.

The thousands of Holmesians in the world live by that precept. They know that Holmes, who retired 80 years ago, now lives in Sussex where he is a devoted beekeeper but still takes on occasional crime cases. Three of those students of the past and continuing career of Holmes joined us in this discussion. Though it occurred way back in 1994, the astonishing revelations presented that night still resonate.