Art

Why Theatre in Utah is So Good

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It’s About Moral Agency In 2012, when I relocated to a small Utah town from New York City by way of Los Angeles, I thought I was giving up seeing and performing in theatre. But I soon realized that I had landed by serendipity in arguably the theatre capital of the country: Cedar City, home […]

Art

Happy Ayn Rand’s Birthday 2024

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As always, I celebrate Ayn Rand’s birthday, February 2nd, by opening one of her novels to a random page and reading a passage. Here is one of the passages, from The Fountainhead, that I read today (Part 2, Chapter VI). “And, my dear,” asked Kiki Holcombe, “what did you think of that new one, you know, I […]

Art

Book Recommendation: Variations on a Noble Theme

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I am primarily a writer, but sometimes I will edit a book by special request. In 2019 I edited America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It, a landmark book by C. Bradley Thompson. (See my brief review.) This year I edited the forthcoming novel, Variations on a Noble Theme, […]

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Happy Atlas Shrugged Day 2023

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I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day (September 2) each year by opening to a random page of Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and reading a passage. Here is what I found today, on pages 97–98 of the hardcover book (New York: Random House, 1957), Part I, Chapter V (“The Climax of the D’Anconias”): When Francisco left, that summer, […]

Art

Happy Ayn Rand’s Birthday 2023

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As always, I celebrate Ayn Rand’s birthday, February 2nd, by opening one of Ayn Rand’s novels to a random page and reading a passage. Today, I opened The Fountainhead to this passage (Ayn Rand ([1943] 1994, 191, Part 1, Chapter XV). “Look Peter, I believe you. I know that you have nothing to gain by saying this. I […]

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Happy Atlas Shrugged Day 2021

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I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day (September 2) each year by opening to a random page of Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and reading a passage. Here is what I found today, on page 790 of the hardcover book (New York: Random House, 1957), Part III, Chapter II (“The Utopia of Greed”): Of any one person, of any […]

Art

Happy 116th Birthday of Ayn Rand

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As is my custom, I celebrate the birthday of Ayn Rand (February 2) by opening one of her novels to a random page and reading. Here is something I read today, from The Fountainhead, Part Two, Chapter 5: She went out alone for long walks. She walked fast, her hands in the pockets of an old […]

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Happy Atlas Shrugged Day 2020

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I celebrate Atlas Shrugged Day (September 2) each year by opening to a random page of Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and reading a passage. Here is what I found today, on page 362 of the hardcover book (New York: Random House, 1957), Part II, Chapter I (“The Man Who Belonged on Earth”): The young boy from […]

Art

Artists, Take Your Stand

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I posted this message on Facebook in August 2018 and again in August 2019. The message is especially important in 2020, with civilization under assault. Are you an artist who loves beauty, not ugliness; virtues, not flaws; heroes, not mediocrities; integrity, not contradictions; clarity, not ambiguity; aspiration, not futility; romance, not promiscuity; eloquence, not vulgarity; […]

Art

How I Am Spending My Spring Vacation

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First, I am nearly done with my book on epistemology, which has been nearly thirty years in the making. An advance copy is now being read by colleagues. Here is a draft of the cover. While colleagues have been reading, I have sought an alternative to in-person performances of my one-man show, which have been […]