Dear Virginia Dear Virginia

A Christmas letter to the state of Virginia.

Dec 22, 2000 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

The Last Edwardian The Last Edwardian

A review of The Hill Bachelors, by William Trevor.

Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Eric Weinberger

Speak, Memory! Speak, Memory!

A review of Cherry, by Mary Karr; On Writing, by Stephen King; and Ghost Light, by Frank Rich.

Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Dan Wakefield

Democratic Vistas Democratic Vistas

We shall see very little of the charmingly simian George W. Bush—the military—Cheney, Powell et al.--will be calling the tune, and the whole nation will be on constant ...

Dec 22, 2000 / Gore Vidal

What Must Have Happened to Create the Supreme Court Decision in Bush v. Gore What Must Have Happened to Create the Supreme Court Decision in Bush v. Gore

Though "activist" is what they've railed against, These five Supremes said, "Just this once, let's try it. We know which candidate we want to win. We'll simply find some law to justify it."

Dec 22, 2000 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Death Trip: The American Way of Execution Death Trip: The American Way of Execution

Dec 22, 2000 / Feature / Robert Sherrill

A Talk With Governor George Ryan A Talk With Governor George Ryan

The governor issued a moratorium on executions in Illinois a year ago, after investigative-reporting students and their professor saved an innocent man from the death chamber.

Dec 22, 2000 / Feature / Bruce Shapiro

A Tale of Two Venonas A Tale of Two Venonas

A review of The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors, by Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel.

Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Schwartz

Unsolicited Survey Unsolicited Survey

Have you been there? If so, can you describe the shape of the shadows? When you entered, did anyone greet you? Did the moss hug your foot or a jay screech in your ear? Were you afraid you would not get back? Did they ring a bell? How many times, and what did it sound like? Did a horse bow its head by the side of a road? Did a single feather lie at the clearing? Did a green wave cascade into a grove? Did the flavor of light infect your sleep? Did a toad leap from the dust onto a twig? Did deer turn in terror as you passed? Did a doe lick your hand and find you wanting? Did you behold a flower that cannot fade? Was the sky so empty that you fell upward? Did the needles of a pine tickle your nose? Did you sniff the ghost of the cedars of Lebanon? Did you follow a petal blown to the edge of the sea? Did you wake with a sheet twisted around your throat? Did you call out? Did you kneel at a blade of grass or at the mound of an anthill? Did you ask for a way in or a way out? Did a bough sway imperceptibly? Did you rest your hand on the shoulder of a god? Did you open a piece of fruit and offer a portion of it to the sun? How long did it take to finish, and were you satisfied? Did a fly sip some water from a stone? Did you touch the haze on a plum, its blue cloud? Did you rub its skin until it lost its bloom? Did the day burn in a crow's eye? Were the stars so clear another heaven appeared behind them? Did you hear the wind consoling the leaves? Did you look inside the cap of a mushroom, and part the curtain of disbelief?

Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Phillis Levin

Return of Legal Realism Return of Legal Realism

Bush v. Gore may have superficially resolved a short-run political crisis, but it has triggered a deep intellectual crisis.

Dec 22, 2000 / Sanford Levinson