Job 42

 1.  I am still ridiculously happy about the Raiders incredible win on Sunday.  59-14!  And they destroyed, completely destroyed, the Denver Broncos, the team in professional sports for which I have the greatest loathing.  You know how Red Sox fans hate the Yankees?  That looks like true love compared to how much I hate the Broncos.  And there were the Raiders utterly destroying them on Sunday.  What a fantastic, truly fantastic day,

2. I recently reread Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset Limited.  McCarthy is one of the best contemporary novelists--I have liked every one of his books (and I have read them all except his screenplay for a mid-70s PBS special).  This book is, as it says on the cover, "a novel in dramatic form."  But I am not sure what the difference is between "a novel in dramatic form" and "a play."  This book sure looks like a play, reads like a play, and oddly enough, was performed as a play.  But, whatever it is called, it is brilliant--absolutely brilliant.  And it is a fantastic starting point for reading Cormac McCarthy.  Most of McCarthy's books are drenched in violence--brutal, ugly violence.  He is the best examiner of the depths of human depravity I know.  This book has very little violence, so for those who don't like violence with their philosophy, it is not a bad starting place.  (For those who don't mind stunning portrayals of violence and ugliness, Blood Meridian is his best work--but seriously, it is not for the faint of heart--it is a depiction of unbelievably ugly and vile men as a conduit for one of the most thought-provoking examinations of sin and evil I have ever read.)  This book, The Sunset Limited has limited violence--the whole thing is a conversation between two people--a highly religious ex-convict who is named "Black" and a jaded atheistic college professor who is named "White."  It is a brilliant exploration of the meaning of human existence. 

3, Speaking of jaded college professors, a colleague just forwarded this along to me.  Not recommended for anyone who wants to preserve a romantic view of the academy.