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in Harper's
by
Donovan Hohn, April 2008
This beautifully written, but rather painful, foray into the marriage and eventual divorce of the author's parents seems only tangentially about Christianity and falling from grace. What was his mother searching for when she took off on road trips across the country, starting in her 20s and lasting until her 60s? Thoreau-imbued nature, religious impulses, illness, and succor are themes in author Hohn's lengthy, speculative remembrances.
Posted 11:05, 2 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
Deborah Campbell, April 2008
Nearly 2.5 million Iraqis have been forced to flee the country since the beginning of the current Iraq War, often in response to sectarian violence. Campbell delivers a fraught examination of where these refugees have emigrated, and the response of the countries that have suddenly found themselves home to burgeoning Iraqi populations. Campbell's experience goes beyond mere numbers. She lives in Damascus, Syria, a nation that now hosts 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, and Campbell weaves the narratives of several expatriates into her story, putting an intensely personal face on the growing crisis.
Posted 11:03, 1 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Ty Bannerman
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
Nathanael Johnson, April 2008
Regulatory agencies, farmers, and consumers have differing views on milk, especially about whether it should be pasteurized or unpasteurized. In much of the US and all of Canada, it is illegal to sell raw milk. There is mounting evidence that unpasteurized dairy output contains bacteria not only generally beneficial to humans, but also remarkably protective of our immune systems. Johnson's even-handed and probing article describes Canadian Michael Schmidt, whose 50-cow farm has been raided by officials with guns drawn, but whose customers have never complained of illness in 25 years of mutual interaction.
Posted 4:44, 31 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
David Quammen, April 2008
Utilizing examples drawn from diverse species, Quammen looks at evidence that cancer is evolving into a contagious disease. The most startling accounts include a rapidly spreading contagion that is wiping out Tasmanian Devils. Facial scratches among the devils have become a transmission vector for cancer -- and the disease is unique, as it is genetically separate from the host. Normally, cancer is an internal mutation, but evidence is mounting that individual strains of cancer can "reproduce" themselves in other hosts. A worthwhile topic, but Quammen's style is wordy and drawn out.
Posted 10:25, 31 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Joshua Lenon
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
David Berlinski, April 2008
Berlinski posits that in the supposed conflict between science and religion, science requires just as much faith as religion. Mentioning complex theoretical and quantum physics, he states that for the common "longshoreman," believing such science is the same as believing in the miracles of the Bible. He also argues that science is incapable of proving or disproving the existence of God, which is a worthwhile if age-old position, but Berlinksi seems to have an ax to grind.
Posted 10:12, 31 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Joshua Lenon
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
Ben Metcalf, April 2008
Trying to determine exactly how much of one's own personal tax dollars are being spent on war supplies for Iraq and Afghanistan is not everyone's ideal pursuit. But Metcalf notes that he doesn't have the requisite bravery to join taxpayer protests, so he chooses instead to imagine whether his contributions might go toward 5,000 bullets for M16 machine guns or maybe for part of a JDAM guided missile. Perhaps, like charity appeals featuring letters about particular children receiving aid, the government can send letters with specifics on casualties attributed to a taxpayer's dedicated donations. This stinging satire is passionate and articulate -- and unnerving.
Posted 10:08, 31 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
The country of Nigeria may have lent its name to a complicated email scam, but this excerpt from 21 Tips for Safety While in Nigeria -- a guidebook for returning expatriates -- suggests that skulduggery is no less endemic to the troubled nation. Advice such as "never tell anyone where you are staying", "always lie about where you are heading -- say north if west and east if north," and "do not give travel dates to your family," paints a picture of an environment where paranoia may well be your best friend. Not the best publicity for Nigeria, but ghoulishly fascinating nonetheless.
Posted 4:56, 28 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Ty Bannerman
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
Evelyn Toynton, April 2008
Toynton reviews The Emergence of Memory, a book of interviews with and essays about German writer Winfried Georg Sebald. He is the late author of four fictional memoirs and travelogues, which have been most often described as sublime in art and melancholic in tone. His aesthetic, harking back to the brooding prose of 19th-century German novelists, and his subject matter, invoking the shadows of the Holocaust, have inspired praise from fellow writers, although some consider his prose obsessive and unnecessarily grandiose. In this thoughtful, scholarly essay, Toynton seems most impressed by Sebald's occasional self-mockery and ability conjure up ghosts.
Posted 4:43, 28 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
In July 2004, four college students hatched a bizarre and poorly thought-out plan to steal rare books from the library at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. As described in this hilarious excerpt from an opinion filed by Judge Alice Batchelder, their plan consisted of arranging a meeting with the Special Collections librarian to look at the rare books, arriving in unconvincing disguises, beating her senseless, and then absconding with millions of dollars worth of first editions. Unfortunately for them, their robbery was a comedy of errors from the beginning, ultimately leaving them with nothing besides besides six counts of theft each.
Posted 4:36, 28 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Ty Bannerman
and edited by Brijit.
in Harper's
by
Ken Silverstein, March 2008
A Congressman's salary may be only $169,300 per year, but his or her lifestyle is more akin to that of the rich and famous. Using political campaign funds to pay for lavish meals (whether at the posh Capital Grille, a Republican hang-out, or the recently spruced-up National Democratic Club), as well as for travel expenses to far-flung resorts, has become common practice. Ethics committee pronouncements do little to damper the enthusiastic expenditures or to discourage lobbyist activities. Silverstein's illuminating article, with its muted sense of outrage, focuses on Louisiana lame-duck Republican Jim McCrery as illustrative of the loose rules governing dipping into political contributions.
Posted 5:31, 25 February 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.