Books

10. 2023. Prudentius. How to Cope: An Ancient Guide to Slaying Your Demons. Princeton University Press.

9. 2023. Ovid. How to Get Over a Breakup. Princeton University Press.

“Step right up, all you naive victims: come to my dictums, if you’re a fool for love.”

8. 2022. (Inspired by) Marcus Tullius Cicero. How to Grieve: An Ancient Guide to the Lost Art of Consolation. Princeton University Press. Secret decoder-ring data set eventually online here.

“I even did something no one’s ever done before: I talked myself out of depression.” (Cicero, March 45 BCE)

7. 2021. Marcus Tullius Cicero. How to Tell a Joke: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Humor. Princeton University Press. Translations: Korean, Malaysian.

The world’s first guide to laughing your way to the top, from the first man who did it. “Humor is risky, since ‘wit’ is so close to ‘twit’.” — Quintilian. What’s the secret?

6. 2020. Vincent Obsopoeus. How to Drink: A Classical Guide to the Art of Imbibing. Princeton University Press. Translations: German, Turkish, Spanish. Pirated in Japan.

The world’s first guide to drinking. “Weirdly time-travelly” — The Daily Beast. Imitated in Japan. What’s the buzz?

Overview and backstory: Cornell Chronicle
Op-eds: USA Today; Psychology Today
Bonuses and b-sides: The Best American Poetry I, II, III, IV (includes the preface), V. 中文: I, I I, III, V.
- The history of drinking games: History Today, Time Magazine
- Drinking games + “toxic” masculinity: The Times 1; 2; El Español; The Sun
- The Art of Slander: Classical Wisdom Litterae (part 1; part 2)
- Quarantini recipes: English, 中文
High-octane webinar: Classical Wisdom
Podcasts: American Scholar; Royal College of Psychiatrists; The Good Life
Reviews: Wine Spectator; Forbes; The Daily Mail; Times Literary Supplement; The Spectator USA; Atlas Obscura (qui in Italiano); Jancis Robinson; Literary Review of Canada; Fortress of the Mind; Alexander Adams; The Brew Holder; Literary Review; Mr.&Mrs.Romance; The Mountain Democrat; The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette; The Santa Barbara Independent; The Umami Factor; Washington Examiner; Múlt-Kor; Pennsylvania Literary Journal; The Daily Beast; Nossa UOL; The Daily Mirror; Mayéutica; scholarly reviews: Journal of Classics Teaching; Neo-Latin News; Classics for All

5. 2019. John Placentius. The Pig War. Puzzled Out by Michael Phontaine. Pigtures penned by David Beck. Paideia Institute Press.

Overview and backstory: Cornell Chronicle

The Twisted Tale of The Pig War: InMediasRes
Review: Literary Review April 2020 (E. Park)
Dedication:

4. 2018. (co-ed.) Quasi Labor Intus: Ambiguity in the Latin Language (Essays in Honor of Fr. Reginald Foster , OCD) (co-ed. with Charles McNamara and William Short). Paideia Institute Press. (See here.)

Overview and Backstory: Cornell Chronicle

Introduction: InMediasRes
Review: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.04.11 (S. Borchers)
Dedication:

Lumine decipiens noctem φωστῆρα vocabant
Christicolae signum, nomen et omen erat.
Namque ut nocte regit tenebrisque per aequora cursum
sideribus fixis nauta vagante rate,
fidum dum regimen balbi per opaca rogamus,
haud aliter φωστὴρ hic Reginaldus erat.

3. 2015. Joannes Burmeister: Aulularia and other Inversions of Plautus. Leuven University Press: Bibliotheca Latinitatis Novae.

Overview and Backstory: Cornell Chronicle
Reviews: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2016-03-27 (F. Franko); Eirene 54 (2018) (E. Poláčková); Germanistik 56 (2015), 113-4 (Jorißen); Gymnasium 123, (2016), 200-2 (N. Holzberg); Journal of Roman Studies 107 (2017) (V. Moul); Latomus (2017), 632-4 (S. Jeppesen); Renaissance Quarterly 70 (2017), 246-8 (J. Parente); Seventeenth Century News (including Neo-Latin News 64) 74 (2016), 74-6 (F. Schaffenrath); Wiener Studien 129 (2016), 352-4 (W. Stockert); Vox Latina 52 (2016), 463-5 (S. Albert).

2. 2014. (co-ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy (co-ed. with Adele Scafuro). Oxford University Press USA, 2014 (898 pp.). Translation: Greek (2022).

Reviews: Choice (July 2014) (M. J. Johnson); Classical Review (2015), 2 pages (M. L. Lech); Classics for All (2019) (C. Tanfield); Greece and Rome 62 (2015), 124 (Izzet and Shorrock); Gymnasium (2015), 3 pages (N. Holzberg); International Studies in Humour 4(2) (2015), 102-115 (E. Nissan); Journal of Classics Teaching 16 (2015), 50 (A. Beale)

1. 2010. Funny Words in Plautine Comedy. Oxford University Press USA, 2010. (328 pp.)

Reviews: The book was the subject of a mammoth 88-page review essay titled “Doing Justice to Plautus, a Master of Comedy, a Master of Wordplay,” in International Studies in Humour, 4(2), 2015, 2-89 (E. Nissan). Other reviews: American Journal of Philology 132 (2011), 510-3 (A. Sharrock); Ancient History Bulletin Reviews Online 1 (2011) 67-70 (W. Stockert); L’Antiquité Classique 82 (2013), 333-5 (L. Demoulin); Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2014-06-52 (J. Tatum); Eos 98 (2011), 317-20 (D. Dutsch); Greece and Rome 58 (2011) 116-117 (R. Langlands); Gnomon 83 (2011), 692-5 (John Henderson); Journal of Roman Studies 101 (2011), 9-14 (S. Goldberg); Latomus 71 (2012), 863-866; (M. Crampon); New England Classical Journal 37.4 (2010), 296-8 (D. Christenson)