Nigel Bruce

Poison Pen Letters

My top 7 detective fiction writers

I read a lot of detective fiction. It's armchair traveling and so the setting matters as much as the characters and the plot. These are my favorite 7 writers: Georges Simenon - prolific Belgian writer famous for his Paris Commissaire Jules Maigret. I was first drawn in by

Alice's Mirrors

Scent in Art

Imagine you are in charge of an art exhibition and many of the paintings show flowers. Perhaps a woman is sniffing them; it's a pre-Raphaelite painting. How would you make this more appealing to general audiences? You might consider having flowery scents wafting through the gallery. Personally, I

Alice's Mirrors

The Perils of Too Much Food

Food and drink appear constantly in art and literature, as well as in film and television, but what about the perils of too much of a good thing? Over-eating, obesity, gout... No artist has better rendered it than the prolific Londoner James Gillray, who died in 1815. Below is George,

How to Look at a Naked Lady

Italo Calvino

My favorite Italo Calvino story, relating to Lady Godiva of course, is Mr. Palomar (1983), including this moment in an encounter on a nudist beach. "Returning from his stroll, Palomar again passes that bather, and this time he keeps his eyes fixed straight ahead, so that his gaze touches

A Tale of Two Women Featured

A Tale of Two Women

Malinche as the Virgin of Guadalupe

The Age of Consent Featured

The Age of Consent

Adam and Eve and the Forbidden Fruit

Angel Incarnate Featured

Angel Incarnate

Leonardo da Vinci and the Pleasure of Boys

Beauty & the Beast Featured

Beauty & the Beast

AIDS Metaphors and Other Things

Dreaming of the Virgin Mary Featured

Dreaming the Virgin Mary

Theodora and the Architecture of the Divine

From Russia with Love Featured

From Russia with Love

The Devil in London

Homer's Women Featured

Homer's Women

Why did it take Odysseus 19 Years to Get Home from Troy?

The House of Incest Featured

The House of Incest

Anaïs Nin and the Poisoned Sperm

How to Look at a Naked Lady Featured

How to Look at a Naked Lady

How Lady Godiva Got a Tax Break

Immortal Beloved Featured

Immortal Beloved

Beethoven’s Love Letters

The Judgment of Paris Featured

The Judgment of Paris

How Ninon de Lenclos Cheated the Devil

Kama Sutra Featured

Kama Sutra

A Spiritual Fable of Eunuchs and Orgasms

Letters from Africa Featured

Letters from Africa

Angels and Wheels over Zion

Life as Opera Featured

Life as Opera

From Lola Montez to Mata Hari

Loki's Children Featured

Loki's Children

A Scientific Fable of Runes and Ragnarök

Oz is China Featured

Oz is China

A Political Fable of Chinese Dragons and White Tigers

Poison Pen Letters Featured

Poison Pen Letters

The Strange Tale of Agatha Christie

Precious Bodily Fluids Featured

Precious Bodily Fluids

Shakespeare's Worst Italian Plays

Sacred Prostitute Featured

Sacred Prostitute

Mary Magdalene: Was She or Wasn’t She?

Spinster Featured

Spinster

Why Jane Austen Never Married

The Sorcerer's Apprentice Featured

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Melville, Mormons and Moby-Dick