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John Glassie

Goodreads Author

Born

in Washington, D.C.

Website

http://www.johnglassie.com

Twitter

Father_Kircher

Member Since

June 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/johnglassie

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I'm the author of a book about a colorful but largely forgotten seventeenth-century scholar and priest named Athanasius Kircher. It's called A Man of Misconceptions. It was first published by Riverhead Books in November of 2012, and came out in paperback in late 2013.

I've been a contributing editor for The New York Times Magazine and have written for many publications including The Believer, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Paris Review Daily, Salon, and Wired. I'm also the author of a photo book, Bicycles Locked to Poles, which was published by McSweeney's in 2005.

I teach at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and have spoken to students or participated on panels at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Columbia University, The New School, ...more

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John Glassie's Blog

A Man of Misconceptions on C-SPAN

View my event at the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest on C-SPAN here:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/AM...

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Published on June 13, 2013 08:26

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John Glassie’s books

Average rating: 3.62 · 311 ratings · 64 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change 3.61 avg rating — 285 ratings — published 2012 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bicycles Locked to Poles 3.84 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 2005 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Der letzte Mann, der alles wusste: Das Leben des exzentrischen Genies Athanasius Kircher 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Invisible Little Worms/Pequenos Vermes Invisiveis liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	John Glassie 1st edit/1 print Bicycles Locked to Poles 2004 [Paperback] Glassie, John 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Man of Misconceptions, A 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bicycles Locked to Poles by John Glassie (2005-05-17) by John Glassie (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by John Glassie (?)

“suggest, animals have a way of adapting, if not evolving, under different environmental circumstances.”
― John Glassie, A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change

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John’s Quotes

“The simple question 'What color do you want to paint that upstairs room?' might, if we follow things to their logical conclusions, be stated: 'How do I live, knowing that I will one day die and leave you?”
― Donald Antrim

8 likes

“He awoke at six, as usual. He needed no alarm clock. He was already comprehensively alarmed.”
― Martin Amis, The Information

tags: humor, humour

86 likes

“The father of Egyptology was Father Athanasius Kircher.”
― Thomas E. Woods Jr.

tags: catholicism, egyptology, science, western-civilization

4 likes

“Thirty-five craters on the moon are named for Jesuit scientists and mathematicians. ”
― Thomas E. Woods Jr.

tags: catholicism, craters, jesuit, moon, science

6 likes

“All the world's a stage we're going through.”
― Lorrie Moore, Anagrams

1034 likes

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John’s Groups

History, Medicine, and Science: Nonfiction and Fiction — 1542 members — last activity Oct 14, 2025 06:03PM
Discussion about the fascinating stories of our scientific and medical past

Science and Inquiry — 4499 members — last activity 16 minutes ago
This Group explores scientific topics. We have an active monthly book club, as well as discussions on a variety of topics including science in the new ...more

The History Book Club — 25996 members — last activity 2 hours, 4 min ago
"Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club is the largest history and nonfiction group on Goodread ...more

Imprinted Life — 134 members — last activity Feb 21, 2026 09:26PM
Exploring nonfiction: "To merge on the road you are meant to travel, means making a choice and then taking action.” ― C. Toni Graham [Goodreads Quote ...more

Memoirs and Biographies We Love — 1370 members — last activity Feb 24, 2026 01:02PM
A place to share memoirs, biographies, autobiographies (and maybe even fiction-based-in-reality) that you have enjoyed!

National Book Critics Circle — 333 members — last activity May 04, 2021 06:29AM
The National Book Critics Circle honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism and literature.

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John’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by Aloha

Feb 21, 2013 07:23AM

Hi, John. Thank you for the friend invite. Your books look interesting. I'll have to check them out. Synesthesia is a topic that I'd like to find out more about.

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