As our regular readers know, I am making my way through my reading list in U.S. intellectual and cultural history.  Part of this process involves writing a precis/reading summary for each text. These summaries are not designed for public consumption, and generally not fit for it either.  They’re not bad; they’re just idiosyncratic, composed entirely for my own use. My process is to write a summary, without notes, as soon as I have finished a book.  If I have time, I go back later and make a list of the pages I’ve dog-eared and draped with marginalia, with a little Read more