Smiley, Jane. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton. New York: Knopf, 1998. Much of Jane Smiley’s growing reputation has derived from her penetrating depictions of contemporary life in the rural Midwest. But she has also written several well-received historical novels, including The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton. Set on the…
The think-tank Demos has done a report on the causes of soaring tuition costs and debt levels for students enrolled at public colleges and universities, and the report is getting some national attention. Here is an excerpt from an article on the CBS News site MoneyWatch: “Thanks to rapidly rising tuition costs, America has a…
Over the past few days. There has been a great deal of media coverage of the Far Right lunatic theory that long-planned military exercises in western Texas are a cover for a planned federal takeover of the state. Supposedly some shuttered Walmarts have been leased by the federal government for use as detention centers, and…
In response to the “cartoon contest” in Garland, Texas, that provoked an attack by two “Muslim extremists,” the news media has not been able to avoid making parallels to the much more devastating attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Most of those commentators have felt uneasy enough with the comparison that…
On May 5 at the PEN Literary Gala, the magazine Charlie Hebdo will be awarded the PEN/Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award. At least 204 PEN members have signed a letter objecting to the honor, complaining that Charlie Hebdo offended Muslims and therefore is unworthy of any award. The anti-Charlie Hebdo…