14 Comments

John, I enjoyed this digest of your series. It is quite rich, and I appreciate how you align it with current projects, such as your courses and your book. I'm hoping to achieve a little more progress in that area in 2025.

Thanks for mentioning me here and, of course, in your hit piece on academe.

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Thanks, Josh. Alignment is the goal—though it’s often a challenge.

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What an excellent re-introduction and overview. So much! I just saved it for reference. Also had a bit of a flashback on "Tolstoy Cancels Shakespeare." That troll.

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What a curmudgeon, that Tolstoy!

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If I ever rebrand my own Substack, it might be with "The Young Curmudgeon." 49 feels too young to be as grumpy as I often am!

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Very thorough and wonderfully written post, John. I need to show my husband all your Tolkien work. He is a very big and long time fan of the author.

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Thanks, Lara! I hope he enjoys the series. More to come on Tolkien next summer.

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This is magnificent!!! I need to learn how to do this. Spiral Notebook needs a useful archival page...

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Thanks, Jo. I’m thinking about pasting this whole thing onto my “About” page.

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Wonderful reintroduction, John! I'm looking forward to the next year.

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Thanks, Tiffany! And I'm looking forward to catching up with your Tolkien series once the semester ends next week.

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What a rich review — just in time for finals week! 😂 I hope you are finding a rhythm that lets you work on your book. Your offerings to subscribers are a dragon’s hoard! 🐉💎

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Thanks, Tara! Good luck climbing the end-of-semester mountain…

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Got my ice picks and blizzard goggles. I’m ready …. You, too!

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