John Baker’s Blog

In The Stranger, Paul Constant writes about the perils and pleasures of chasing book thieves:
In my eight years working at an independent bookstore, I lost count of how many shoplifters I chased through the streets of Seattle while shouting “Drop the book!” I chased them down crowded pedestrian plazas in the afternoon, I chased them [...]

We were at York University last night to see and hear a reading by Carol Ann Duffy. The hall was, gratifyingly, packed beyond capacity, with many people unable to find a seat and standing at the back.
She read several love poems from Rapture, and others from The World’s Wife. These she wrapped in fragments from [...]

Great Moments In Literature, borrowed from a much fuller list at Richard Hartner’s World. These are, allegedly, actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays:
She grew on him like E. coli and he was room temperature Canadian beef.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as [...]

This might be very old. I don’t know.
Begins with an old guy in a chemist’s shop. This is to waylay the listener, because many jokes begin with the same setting and there’s a good chance you’ll have heard it before. This simple fact makes you listen in a different way. You have both positive and [...]