Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade
By Rayyan al-Shawaf | 11.23.09
George Packer, author of the award-winning “The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq,” continues to be one of the most important and authoritative voices on Iraq as well as Islamic extremism, thanks to a piercing intellect and a commendable willingness to confront and even modify his earlier beliefs. Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade brings together several previously published essays (most of which appeared in The New Yorker), written during or just after a distinct era, beginning with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and ending on Nov. 4, 2008, with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. (more…)
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Imperial
By Clara Germani | 11.19.09
Warning: I know someone who curiously picked up William T. Vollmann’s hefty 1,300-page Imperial, took a minute to read a page at random, and then exhaled a whimper of incomprehension as he thunked it down in disbelief. Maybe it was the sheer weight (three pounds) that distressed, or maybe it was that random page, which probably contained a gonzo-conglomeration of bolded text, exclamation points, and 90-plus-word sentences. (more…)
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Crude World
By Brian Black | 11.10.09
Look who just turned 150 – without looking a day over 10,000! August marked the anniversary of the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania – or, at least, of our recognition of its usefulness. Journalist Peter Maass uses the occasion to throw a massive bucket of water on the flames of human exuberance for crude. (more…)
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Egg on Mao
By Terry Hong | 10.21.09
Denise Chong has built an award-winning career capturing ordinary people living extraordinary lives. “The Concubine’s Children” (1994) told of her own family’s fractured journey from China to Canada and “The Girl in the Picture” (2000) detailed the harrowing story of the young girl whose screaming, naked image became a devastating symbol of the Vietnam War. (more…)
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Where Men Win Glory
By Erik Spanberg | 10.07.09
Many Americans who watched the 9/11 attacks from afar insisted their lives would never be the same after that day, that they could never go back to the way things were before Al Qaeda killed 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Few, if any, lived up to that vow with the conviction of Pat Tillman. (more…)
