Dorothy L. Sayers, Claire Bloom, Harry Potter, an overloaded DVR and Knob Creek bourbon…

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Turns out my husband has a secret crush! How did I not know this!

Remember when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone became Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because Americans, presumably, could relate to the word “sorcerer” more than the word “philosopher”? American fundamentalists would then latch onto the word “sorcerer” as evidence of the book’s link to the occult.

That was an awesome trip to Britain! Here's Don at 221-B Baker Street!

The merchants of culture are always trying to determine what resonates with the public and what makes them scratch their heads. Peter Hoeg’s novel Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne was translated for Americans as Smilla’s Sense of Snow, a fine title. I was in London when the book came out and saw the British version of the book. The title was Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, which sounds rather like the young Scandinavian woman had a fetish for various forms of frozen H2O.

Sometimes titles just don’t work.

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