ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs
@ayjay.bsky.social
180 followers 25 following 92 posts
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · 2d
I've always been confused about this: when do you lot say Britian and when do you say Englnad?
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · 2d
I'm looking forward to seeing the blurb:

"Adam is wrong." — eminent professor Alan Jacobs
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · 2d
Yes, "full strength" is wrong — he had gained *enough* strength to appear openly. At the outset of the story the Nazgul flee from hobbits in Crickhollow -- and Nob in Bree can scare them away from the unconscious Merry. They have a long way to go. Anyway the main point here is that Adam is wrong.
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · 2d
But during Gollum's possession Sauron was disembodied & powerless, yes? As Sauron returned slowly to power & gathered his Nazgul to him, "it was long since [Gollum] had worn it much: in the black darkness it was seldom needed" (Gandalf). It came to Bilbo just as Sauron regained his full strength.
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Aug 13
The big A.I. companies’ business model
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Aug 11
I wrote about Richard Wilbur's greatest poem and how a bit of it was (I think) inspired by his reading Dorothy L. Sayers.

blog.ayjay.org/the-truth-in...
the truth in view – The Homebound Symphony
blog.ayjay.org
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Aug 10
2023 workflow: web search and then click through pages until you find the info

2024 workflow: Ask chatbot, copy and paste answer

2025 workflow: Ask chatbot, doubt its answer, web search and then click through pages until you find the info
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 29
I explained to my Buy Me a Coffee supporters why I ask them to buy me dragons:

buymeacoffee.com/ayjay/on-dra...
On Dragons — ayjay
Post by ayjay
buymeacoffee.com
ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 28
I don't think you're a physician to those weeds, since you're killing them. Avoid euphemism, please.
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 25
That *is* a problem but one I think Mr Dershowitz can handle.
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 25
You rightly point out that the new South Park episode "depicted a nude Donald Trump, lying in bed with Satan" but you neglect to mention that Satan has filed suit for defamation of character. That's journalistic malpractice, Brian!
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 25
At @christianitytoday.com Matthew Mullins writes very generously about my new book on PARADISE LOST:

www.christianitytoday.com/2025/07/para...
Who Is the Real Hero of ‘Paradise Lost?’ - Christianity Today
Alan Jacobs clarifies centuries of debate over John Milton’s epic retelling of the Fall.
www.christianitytoday.com
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 25
I asked the chatbots why they say "Hail Satan" but won't say "Jesus Is Lord" and they replied:

blog.ayjay.org/hail-satan-b...
blog.ayjay.org
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 25
I wrote a pretty long essay on Ernst Lubitsch's neglected comic masterpiece CLUNY BROWN (1946):

blog.ayjay.org/cluny-brown
blog.ayjay.org
ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 15
Honored to be in my buddy Austin Kleon's newsletter this morning. Me and Tolstoy.

austinkleon.substack.com/p/breaking-b...
Breaking bread with the dead
Old books are time machines
austinkleon.substack.com
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 14
I started writing about Dorothy L. Sayers's forgotten play THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE, and didn't stop until I had seven posts and 10,000 words. I've put it all one one page, just for those of you who can't get enough Roman politics and Nicene theology:

blog.ayjay.org/dorothy-l-sa...
Dorothy L. Sayers and the Emperor Constantine – The Homebound Symphony
blog.ayjay.org
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jul 12
We farted by the river-side,
The moon appalled by you and me;
The stars put on a look so snide,
The river eye-rolled to the sea
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Reposted by Alan Jacobs
princetonupress.bsky.social
Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · Jul 10
The life and times of Milton’s epic poem about Satan’s revolt against God and humanity’s expulsion from paradise

Out now. Read a free sample and save 30% with code PUP30: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... @ayjay.bsky.social‬
The life and times of Milton's epic poem about Satan's revolt against God and humanity's expulsion from paradise
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Reposted by Alan Jacobs
princetonupress.bsky.social
Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · Jul 1
The @wsj.com calls @ayjay.bsky.social 's Paradise Lost: A Biography “a concise, lively, and learned account of the poem’s creation and reception.” Read more:

www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
John Milton’s Paradise Lost has secured its place in the pantheon of epic poems, but unlike almost all other works in the pantheon, it is intimately associated with religious doctrine and its implications for how we live our lives. For more than three centuries, it has been a flashpoint for arguments not just about Christianity but also about governance, rebellion and obedience, sexual politics, and what makes poetry great. Alan Jacobs tells the story of Milton’s enduring poem, shedding light on its composition and reception and explaining why it resonates so powerfully with us today. Composed through dictation after Milton went blind in 1652, Paradise Lost centers on an ancient biblical answer to the eternal question of how evil came into the world. It has proved impossible to disentangle the defense or critique of the poem from attitudes toward Christianity itself. Does Christian theology entail monarchy or democracy? Are relations between the sexes thwarted by pompous and tyrannical men or by vain and disobedient women? Jacobs traces how generations of readers have grappled with these and other questions, along the way revealing how Milton’s poem influenced novelists like Mary Shelley and Philip Pullman and has served as the inspiration for paintings, operas, comic books, and video games. An essential companion to Milton’s poetic masterpiece, this book shows why Paradise Lost continues to serve as a mirror reflecting our own complex attitudes about power and authority, justice and revolt, and sin and salvation.
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 30
As I said to my wonderful @princetonupress.bsky.social editor Fred Appel, when the @wsj.com runs a feature review of a university press book about a 17th-century poem, maybe culture isn't *altogether* dead. 😉
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 30
Just a reminder that Dana Gioia calls my book “A concise, lively and learned account of the poem’s creation and reception” — and could a former director of the National Endowment for the Arts be wrong about such a thing?

press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/...
Paradise Lost
The life and times of Milton’s epic poem about Satan’s revolt against God and humanity’s expulsion from paradise
press.princeton.edu
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 28
I'm delighted to see this review of PARADISE LOST: A BIOGRAPHY — by the great Dana Gioia!

www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
A War Over Heaven and Hell
Samuel Johnson quipped that even the admirers of John Milton’s epic never wished it ‘longer than it is.’ But ‘Paradise Lost’ reshaped English literature.
www.wsj.com
ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 27
First post of a series on Dorothy L. Sayers, the emperor Constantine, and the Council of Nicaea:

blog.ayjay.org/sayers-and-c...
Sayers and Constantine: 1 – The Homebound Symphony
blog.ayjay.org
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ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 25
I posted an update for my Buy Me a Coffee supporters, and almost laid a malediction upon those who do not support me:

buymeacoffee.com/ayjay/report...
Report from the Other World — ayjay
Post by ayjay
buymeacoffee.com
ayjay.bsky.social
Alan Jacobs @ayjay.bsky.social · Jun 23
My review of Martin Woessner's brilliant book on the philosophical significance of Terrence Malick's movies is out from behind its paywall:

hedgehogreview.com/issues/after...
I Was Strengthened at the Movies
The self-examination prompted by Malick’s films might lead to a place beyond philosophy.
hedgehogreview.com
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