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News and Notes

October 26th, 2008 | 2 min read

By Matthew Lee Anderson

The reviews continue to roll in for The New Media Frontier. Trevin Wax (who is really, really smart) had this to say in his Amazon review:  "The New Media Frontier is a must-have book for all those interested in the current revolution in media intake and output. Get this book. And then get to work glorifying Christ on your blog."

And no, his review did not influence my opinion of Trevin's intelligence.  (Okay, so maybe it helped him, but only a little).

Speaking of scathing reviews, Brian Kiley had this to say about my contribution:  "I think Anderson is right on the money will all three of those [criticisms]."  I'm just going to enjoy that for a bit.  My wife will never say that to me, and rumor has it that my brother will be posting a review soon.

In other news, Charlie Lehardy has hit 500 posts.  Congratulations to one of the blogosphere's best writers.

James Poulos, one of my favorite bloggers, has moved to new digs over at Culture11.  And he's added other writers, too.  Pomocons aren't right about everything, but they always have an interesting perspective.

Interesting thoughts on Shakespeare and Modernity via The Tempest (what else?) at Theopolitical.  Writes Davey Henreckson:

In perspective, Shakespeare’s The Tempest is a subtle realist critique of the prevailing utopian hopes of the Renaissance and New World exploration. Progressives like Bacon might have seen the New World savages as the great hope of civilization; to the progressives, Shakespeare bequeathed the figure of Caliban—cursing, raping, idolatrizing, and always false. Where the mindset of men like Bacon was utopian and provincial, Shakespeare’s was psychologically complex. Where Bacon’s island is colored by Renaissance fantasies, the island which Prospero rules offers torments and humiliations along with natural wonders. In The Tempest, both the savage and the civilized prove unable or unwilling to conquer nature. In the end each is a “thrice-double ass.” And as Montaigne would phrase it, perhaps the main difference between the European and the savage is that the latter wears no pants. But this is a tenuous claim to moral superiority.

(In case the link doesn't work, here's an alternative.)

Finally, I'm thinking about making a return to blogging.  Requests for topics welcome.

Matthew Lee Anderson

Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.