Lifelines: A Commonplace Book

A Commonplace Book (also called ZIBALDONE or hodgepodge book) is a collection of favorite sayings or statements of proverbial wisdom. It is a personal collection and varies among individuals. Authors include Seneca, John Milton, Edward Gibbon, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, W. H. Auden, Nicholson Baker. Cherry's LIFELINES has more than 600 subject categories. It is also his literary autobiography capturing a lifetime of reading with his appraisal of more than 1300 books, along with lists of favorite works of fiction/non-fiction and films.

Commonplace Book (also called ZIBALDONE or hodgepodge book) is a collection of favorite sayings or statments of proverbial wisdom. It is a personal collection and varies significantly among individuals. Authors of commonplace books include Seneca the Younger, John Milton, Francis Bacon, Edward Gibbon, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, W. H. Auden, Nicholson Baker. After a lifetime of reading, the author (a college English teacher) has tried to distill that reading by fixing it for himself, giving some permanence and validating the activity that has most consumed his waking hours. Thus LIFELINES is in some sense an autobiography, a way of recapturing moments of learning, reflection, suprise, insight, basic pleasure provided by creative users of our language.

Charlie Cherry is an Emeritus Professor of English at Villanova University and former Editor of QUAKER HISTORY, based at Haverford College. In addition to articles on literature and Higher Education, he is the author of A QUIET HAVEN: QUAKERS AND ASYLUM REFORM and has co-authored/edited five books dealing with rhetoric and Quaker History.