rakemag

Athens

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Athens. 2006. It’s hot. The Acropolis on its hilltop is floating above the city on a shimmer of heat. But here on the hotel balcony I’m cool. I’m reading The Rake. Everyone who reads The Rake is cool! Author(s) and Location: Robin Overmier

NYC Poetry Slam

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The Rake & supplement in front of CBs Gallery and one of the whole group in front of the Bowery Poetry Club across the street of CBGBs. Author(s) and Location: Ruthie Stevens

KIERAN'S LETTER OF THE MONTH: Open Minds

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As an American Muslim, I think it was an ingenious idea to go to and report—very generously—on the closely confined Saudi Arabia [“Postcards from Saudi Arabia,” December]. For Peter Schilling to penetrate Saudi and report on it firsthand is absolutely honorable, since the Saudi government obstructs others (including many Muslims) from coming into its country … Read more

Closed Doors

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CLOSED DOORS After reading the cover story “Postcards from Saudi Arabia,” I am so thrilled for Peter Schilling that he experienced such wonderful hospitality while visiting the desert kingdom. Luckily for him, he didn’t get caught in a homosexual act, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia (public beheading and stoning are two popular … Read more

More Generous Than Grateful

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MORE GENEROUS THAN GRATEFUL Maybe it’s just me, but your series of “Giving and Getting” articles [December, 2006] seem much more weighted to the giving aspect. Even in “Rules of the Game,” which starts with “Giving and Getting,” and seems like it’s going to cover both topics equally, giving is placed before getting. All Penny … Read more

from Washington, D.C. { Changing of the Garb

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Riding home recently on the Metro, I spotted an ad for a bank at the Foggy Bottom station that read, “Remember when there were no oversight committees? That train has left the station.” There have been, of course, a lot of leave-takings in Washington in the wake of the November elections. Last month—December 8, to … Read more

Katherine Lanpher

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For nearly twenty-five years, Katherine Lanpher was a fixture in Twin Cities journalism—first at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and then as the host of Minnesota Public Radio’s Midmorning show and “Talking Volumes” series. So when she moved to New York on February 29, 2004, to join Al Franken on his new radio station, Air … Read more

Lone Twin

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Who better to banish to our imaginary desert isle than a pair of professional travellers? Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters, the British-born performance duo that is Lone Twin, have spent the past nine years traversing the globe, making pit stops during which they craft scrappy performance-art pieces based on their journeys. They once took to … Read more

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

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Here’s a chance to get an up-close look at some incredible human chemistry. The Gaiman-McKean duo is a veritable artistic cottage industry. Between them they have worked in nearly every medium; they direct, produce, perform, sculpt, paint, blog, and, of course, draw and write. Get them some tap shoes and the rest of us can … Read more

Martin Amis

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Depending on whom you want to listen to, House of Meetings is either Amis’ return to form or the newest evidence of a decade-long slide. We haven’t read it, but you do sort of know what to expect from Amis by now: He’s a sourpuss and a smarty-pants, and whether you like what he’s up … Read more