In the continuum of outdoors adventure and nature writing, the truth lies somewhere between Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild and a Dick Cheney “pheasant hunt.” Seth Kanter’s Ordinary Wolves is a striking debut novel that does a nice job of reproducing the hardscrabble realities of native life in Alaska without getting stupid or softening the … Read more
It’s painful to admit, but we avoided reading anything by David Sedaris for years. Mere text would feel inadequate, we felt, without the downbeat timing, wry tone, and steady marksmanship that put him and This American Life on the map. We’re way over that now, but we still take live Sedaris when we can get … Read more
No matter how successful the Bridget Jones novels have been, we can hardly blame Helen Fielding for wanting a change of pace. And so, for now at least, she’s left behind her droll sendup of chick-lit and Pride and Prejudice for a droll sendup of James Bond. Her new heroine is a reluctant fashion reporter … Read more
When Dave Eggers is finally critically keel-hauled and goes under the waves for the last time, David Foster Wallace will no doubt be safely on shore, pounding out another in his series of post-modern works of actual genius (or at least magnificent failure). Oblivion is Wallace’s first fiction in five years, though he’s still best … Read more
The other day a student asked me to name my favorite building. I had no hesitation. “Exeter Cathedral,” I said. There is plenty of magnificence: creamy, glowing stone, the longest medieval Gothic vault in England (possibly in the world), a forest of columns branching upward. But this place also has an unintimidating intimacy; while it … Read more
What is it about cows and cowboys that make us wax rhapsodic? It seems they beget legend and lore, or at least they did in the days when the sight of a herd breaking over a hill, with unshaven, grizzly men on horseback driving them in, could bring a tear to any Pappy’s eye. Maybe … Read more
I really enjoyed your column addressing the N-word. There are few words that can be used in an acceptable manner in one setting and unleash a firestorm in another. SNL had viewers bent over with Chevy Chase doing word association with Richard Pryor on a job interview (White? Black. Negro? Whitey. Colored? Redneck. Tarbaby? Peckerwood. … Read more
“Our Word, Not Yours” [Free the Jackson Five, May] is an extremely well-written and eloquent discussion of a sensitive topic. I’m a white thirty-year-old man. I grew up in Apple Valley. The family I was raised in was made up of Jehovah’s Witnesses and issues of race were basically never issues. My childhood friends were … Read more
In my humble opinion, your magazine has the best journalism I’ve seen locally. The piece on Matt Entenza [“Wrestling Matt,” May] was so helpful for those of us in despair about the state of the state, and Entenza’s goals, background, and motivation give us hope. We parents of special-needs kids are heartbroken that Minnesota, known … Read more
Personal Rapid Transit [“My Pod,” the Rakish Angle, April; Letters, May] has an essential role to play in the transit mix. In Europe today there are several PRT systems in development, including an EU-funded collaborative effort called MAIT. The EU is also exploring the feasibility of installing the Welsh system, Ultra, in four European cities. … Read more