There are two big visionary projects I've been working on (mostly in my head). At first, they seem diametrically opposed, but the more I write about them the more I notice how much they have in common. Once again, I find myself repeating Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor's words: I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say. A New Kind of Virtual World The first too-big-for-realists idea I have is to connect all the fantasy worlds in literature, cinema, a

It was one of the hottest afternoons of the summer. Those who live in New Jersey know, we've had some unusually relentless heat recently, the kind of heat that causes you to make up imaginary words when you try to speak. The flowers and plants in my yard suffered from it too. Wilting leaves and brown branches all around my porch made me sad whenever I approached my doorstep. No amount of watering seemed to help. Yet beside my front door, almost unnoticed, two rosebuds were qu

In this column I will give examples of architectural beauties we need more of and examples of monstrosities we need less of. The "Less of...