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This essay presents the notion of the author on old age. According to the author, Americans are masters of reality, however, a lesion in this logic goes untreated when it comes to the matter of age. As stressed out, mostly Americans do not like to face up old age, with its ugliness and its whiff of death. Just recently, old age reflects improvements in medical science and public health with the result that masses of people are surviving to age one hundred and beyond. Other views and analyses of the author about old age and the medical breakthrough on aging are presented.

This article focuses on the notion of artistic taste. Taste in the arts is all about excellence and quality. It differentiates politeness and rudeness in writing. History and society influence aesthetics. They change people's view of progress. Politics is another factor that affects the exercise of taste. Taste and manners of today's people are often manifested in their dress, speech and public behavior. Confusion in the understanding of fashion and taste is also discussed further in the article.

Comments on the notions of patriotism and expatriation. Contradictions in the attitudes of literary figures on patriotism; Patriotism as wartime moral philosophy; Implications of expatriation; Advantages and difficulties of expatriation from the perspective of artists and writers; Characteristic example of an expatriate's mind.

Presents a biography of British writer Gerald Brenan. Childhood; Education; Family; Love life; Other biographies of himself; Brenan's work associated with Spain; Brenan as a learned autodidact; Travels.

Relates the author's experiences of religious indoctrination during his childhood. Understanding about sin and morality; Family orientation which contributed to the perception about religion; Understanding of the sacraments; Religious practices and mysticism; Deviation from Catholic teaching; Impact of graduate education in the understanding of religion and faith; Falling out from the church.

Comments on the book `The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel,' by George Santayana. Narratives; Characters.

Focuses on the life of Philip Larkin and his work. Larkin's work had merit beyond popularity; Relationship with his mother; Stagey dislike for America; Lifelong admiration for early American jazz; Notion of American blacks; Admittance to the early influences of William Butler Yeats, W.H. Auden and Dylan Thomas; Final decade.

Argues that the previous clear line between the biographer who aspired to permanence and the biographer who aspired to the impermanence of a brief but dollar-laden run has almost disappeared. Complex reasons; Examples of biographies on Oscar Wilde, Eric Gill, and others; Difficulties of interpretation and organization; The sexual matter; Antiheroic, antihagiographical mode in biography.