Malcolm Gladwell sets out to show in Outliers that culturally we have some misconceptions about the road to success, and that by looking at how our meritocracy really works we can do our best to both give people a fair playing field and also stop pointlessly thwarting the futures of people whose chances are [...]
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The most striking thing about Christopher Priest’s novel Inverted World is its narrative structure. The book is divided into five parts, narrated as follows: 1st person, by Helward Mann 3rd person, following Helward Mann 1st person, by Helward Mann 3rd person, following Elizabeth Khan 1st person, by Helward Mann Helward Mann, the narrator for [...] As I mentioned before, one of the somewhat strange things about The Plot Against America is Roth’s decision to use his own name as the name of the narrator—who also shares a birth year, birthplace, and presumably quite a bit of childhood history with the author. One of the reasons I find this so [...] I’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY? Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. [...] There were two reasons I read Songs for the Missing, a novel by Stewart O’Nan that came out last week. The first was that, based on what I’d heard of Last Night at the Lobster, O’Nan seemed like he was doing a sort of regional fiction, which interests me. The second was that the [...] For almost two weeks now I have been stalled—too much work, not a lot of energy for other pursuits. Picked up and put down a few books, but nothing was really sticking. The other night I picked up The Plot Against America, and while I’m not exactly riveted by it I am making my [...] What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?” I am probably more likely to give books as presents than to get them—though I do get some from my parents [...] In honor of the election, and considering how busy I have been, a reprint of an earlier, very short review I wrote (somewhat edited): Many people have noted that democracy seems not to work—policies are implemented that often are not in the best interest of voters, and when voters are surveyed they routinely lack [...] |
My Personal Canon (ongoing project) |
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