Welcome to the Common Reader

If you’re brand new, here are my two most popular posts, that have been on MarginalRevolution and The Browser. Something like eight thousand people have read these.

• A list of ten ways in which we are decadent and a (speculative) theory about why it might not matter

• A list of solutions to the Fermi paradox

I’ve also blogged about an idea called The Fitzgerald Rule, which looks at (mostly) writers who don’t succeed until later in life. People like Penelope Fitzgerald. If you’re interested in that, start here:

• People who not yet succeeded but maybe they will

If you’re interested in Penelope Fitzgerald, and you should be, I recommend The Gate of Angels first.

Otherwise, sit tight. Normal blogging services will resume shortly. We’ve got Anne Tyler, Helene Hanff, and Jamaica Kincaid lined up already.