Books and Ideas

Remains of the Day Remains of the Day

Every Wednesday since January 1992, an indefatigable group of halmonis (Korean for "grandmothers") in their 70s and 80s have led a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seo...

Oct 7, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Margaret Juhae Lee

Is the Boston Tea Party Over? Is the Boston Tea Party Over?

Anyone who has led a discussion on the economy or trade or globalization in this country has faced the question, Should I buy American? Sounds simple enough.

Oct 7, 1999 / Books & the Arts / John Cavanagh

Les Étrangers Les Étrangers

Sagesse (meaning "wisdom") LaBasse, the narrator of Claire Messud's second novel, The Last Life, is French-Algerian on her father's side and American on her mother's.

Sep 30, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Jay Parini

Their Myths and Ours Their Myths and Ours

Karen Rosenberg has taught Russian literary history in the United States and Austria.

Sep 30, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Karen Rosenberg

Mickey & the Peep Show Mickey & the Peep Show

In 1980, amid debates about "cleaning up" Times Square, New York City Mayor Ed Koch warned, "New York cannot and should not become Disneyland.

Sep 30, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Wayne Hoffman

Sunstein’s Law Sunstein’s Law

He criticizes the liberal Warren Court for breaking new constitutional ground on too many fronts too broadly, while also giving no quarter to the constitutional theories of conse...

Sep 23, 1999 / Books & the Arts / David Rudenstine

Our Prison Complex Our Prison Complex

This past winter both Edwin Meese and Gen. Barry McCaffrey expressed surprising misgivings about the current direction of the War on Drugs.

Sep 23, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Theodore Hamm

Decolonizing the Mind Decolonizing the Mind

As Hawaii's first American century comes to an end, marking grim anniversaries of overthrow and forced annexation by the United States, a groundswell for Native Hawaiian sovereig...

Sep 16, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Mindy Pennybacker

Candid in Camera Candid in Camera

It all began in the heat of the summer of 1940. Hitler was at his peak in Europe. France had been defeated.

Sep 9, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Gore Vidal

Behind the Blue Helmets Behind the Blue Helmets

The new US envoy to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, has personal experience of how frustrating it can be to negotiate, even when speaking in the name of that mega-clich&ea...

Sep 9, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Ian Williams

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