Past posts live here. Come 👋🏼 at me on FB, IG, Threads & Bluesky

A Hidden Gem's Genius Syllabus: A Post-Modernist Guide On What to Read.

Until I got to college, I was a terrible student.

My undiagnosed panic disorder made processing information impossible. Even with extra time, my anxiety overrode everything.

As a result, I did poorly and got bad grades, which caused concern and led to years of IQ testing, tutoring, and whispers about learning disorders. This, in turn, led me to believe I was incapable of learning—that I was, in fact, stupid.

It wasn’t until my junior year of high school, when I fell in love with the smartest guy in school (he received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 10th grade to research and write a paper on the Civil Rights Movement!), that someone finally challenged my deeply held conviction that I was an idiot.

It was from him that I realized I could learn, and it was from learning that I gained confidence. I’ve spent my entire adult life dedicated to understanding what I don’t know.

When I got to college and received my first syllabus for a film theory class, I had a religious awakening. The syllabus was a magical portal into worlds I hadn’t known existed, and I could not get enough of them.

I still can’t.

Today, as a bonus, I’m sharing a syllabus of the wildly prolific (in both marriage and writing—four wives!) postmodernist writer Donald Barthelme compiled for his students at the University of Houston.

Lovers of syllabi and fiction—rejoice!

You’re reading the free version of How to Live. Upgrade to get instant access to every article.

Join How to Live