Author Archives: Ursula K. Le Guin

About Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin is a founding member of Book View Cafe. Her recent books include The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories and Finding My Elegy: New and Selected Poems: 1960-2010. She contributed an original poem, “In England in the Fifties,” to Book View Café’s anthology Breaking Waves. King Dog: A Screenplay for the Mind's Eye and Music and Poetry of the Kesh, music by Todd Barton, words by Ursula K. Le Guin, an MP3 collection, are available in the Book View Cafe ebookstore.

Restraint

Posted on October 8, 2012 by

Restraint by Ursula K. Le Guin I’m fascinated by this historical snippet from the New York Times’ “On This Day” feature: “On October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating … Continue reading →


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Where Have All the Liars Gone?

Posted on September 3, 2012 by

by Ursula K. Le Guin What’s happened to the word “lying,” anyhow? Nobody tells a lie any more. “Deciding to ignore the facts,” “not fact-checking,” “stretching the truth,” “not telling the entire truth,” — in covering speeches by Romney, Ryan, … Continue reading →


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Libraries and Ebooks

Posted on August 27, 2012 by

by Ursula K. Le Guin It can be just as fast and easy to order an ebook from the library as to buy it online, and it costs nothing. Why would anyone buy an ebook from the publisher if the … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, eBooks | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

The Opening Night

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

by Ursula K. Le Guin 9.40, Friday night, July 27, 2012. Cheap, hokey, trivial, cynical, pompous, patronising, pretentious, button-pushing, celebrity-worshiping, predictable beyond belief, degrading of every poet, musician, or artist associated with it, what a great show the Olympics opening … Continue reading →


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Le Guin’s Hypothesis

Posted on June 18, 2012 by

by Ursula K. Le Guin I keep telling myself that I’m done writing about Literature vs Genre, that that vampire is buried at the crossroads with a stake in its heart and garlic in its coffin. And then it pops … Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe, Genres, literary criticism | Tagged , , | 80 Comments

A Modest Proposal: Vegempathy

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

It is time for humanity to ascend from our primitive condition as omnivores, carnivores, vegetarians, and vegans. We must take the inevitable next step to Oganism — the Way of the Aerovore — leading away from obesity, allergy, and cruelty … Continue reading →


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Posted in Food and Cooking, satire | Tagged , , | 44 Comments

Some Recent Fantasies

Posted on May 21, 2012 by
Ursula K. Le Guin -- Photo by Marian Wood Kolisch

Reading/Seeing (#3) When somebody asks me, “Who are your favorite sf and fantasy authors?” I duck and mumble. Any answer I can make will be incomplete, invidious, and insignificant. If it’s guidance they want, I’m no expert. I never was … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, fantasy, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The Narrative Gift as a Moral Conundrum

Posted on May 14, 2012 by
Ursula K. Le Guin -- Photo by Marian Wood Kolisch

(Reading, Seeing #2) The narrative gift, is that what to call it? The story-teller’s knack, as developed in writing. Story-telling is clearly a gift, a talent, a specific ability. Some people just don’t have it — they rush or drone, … Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe | 9 Comments

Chosen by a Cat

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

Chosen by a Cat (Annals of Pard: II) by Ursula K. Le Guin Pard sitting in his favorite chair   In the four months since I wrote about his arrival, Little Pard has grown up. He is now Not Large … Continue reading →


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Reading, Seeing (i)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

I don’t promise to keep this up regularly, but wanted to give it a try — talking a bit about some books I read and shows I see. Few of the books and none of the shows will be very … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading | 10 Comments