Monthly Archives: April 2014

In his response to some thoughts on academic writing I’d sent him, my friend and former colleague at Touchstone Steven Hutchens added a note about how he writes. Your suggestion about writing out in one sentence what you want to say is … Continue reading →

A second item continuing the discussion in Lapidary and Obscure. Another friend, Robert Young, Donne scholar and editor of Modern Age, responded to my comments on Buckley’s use of obscure words. He said: I am probably a bit more indulgent with unusual … Continue reading →

A follow-up to Lapidary But Not Eristic, But Still Obscure, offering observations from my friend Matthew Boudway, an editor at Commonweal, and my responses. Matt wrote: Thanks for this. I may not be a typical reader, but two or three unfamiliar … Continue reading →

An old article of William F. Buckley’s I found while looking for something else (a title for this website, as it  happens): I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words, published in The New York Times Book Review … Continue reading →

A few quotes of use to the writer from A. G. Sertillanges’ The Intellectual Life. Sertillanges was a French Dominican, and therefore a Thomist, and clearly a wise man to boot. Though aimed mainly at philosophy and theology students, and though … Continue reading →