Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is not an obvious choice for feminist critique. First, there’s the nameless female narrator searching for an identity and finding it only as “Mrs. De Winter.” Then there’s Rebecca, the obligatory dead woman who launches the whole tale. And then there’s Mrs. Danvers, the manipulative old bat. But Rebecca interests me [...]

I just re-read Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, which I first read as a teenager and have read several times since. But this was the first time I realized why it’s my favorite of his books. I mean, they’re all fantastic entertainment - why this one?
Because it features [...]