When Michael Gordon uses the word “hero” to describe the 12 stylists he profiles, he’s not kidding. And although he’s not trying to place his subjects on the same level as, say, the firefighters of 9/11, they’re certainly at the top of the heap when it comes to the top of your head. There’s Kenneth … Read more
At the heart of this new-in-paperback novel by the author of The Joy Luck Club lies the terrible fragility of memory-and how time robs us piece by piece of our own past. Her main characters are instantly recognizable Tan types. American-born writer Ruth Young realizes it’s time to mend fences with Alzheimer’s-beset mother, LuLing, before … Read more
Happy Birthday to Me! The Rake is the oldest continuously published periodical in the English language, but it didn’t get to this venerable and celebrated position without sacrifices! You remember the Cedars of Lebanon? They provided the reams of paper that became our massive “Top Priests” issue of May, 501 AD. Atlantis? The island defaulted … Read more
Those few of us who spend our working lives in the Roman Empire find current events depressingly familiar. The superpowers of Late Antiquity, Rome and Persia, spent much of the half-millennium before the rise of Islam at war. The Persian Empire incorporated not only modern Iran, but also Iraq. The cockpit of imperial confrontation was … Read more
You cannot get a Mikael the Mime Happy Meal at your local drive-thru window. There are no Mikael the Mime pacifiers or chewable vitamins on sale at Target, and there are no Mikael the Mime video games that teach your pipsqueaks to blow up extra-terrestrials with a Mikael the Mime machine gun. Mikael Rudolph simply … Read more
I once punctuated a doomed love affair with a ride on the Empire Builder to Glacier National Park in Montana. It was my 25th birthday, and I spent it sighing deeply into a window-framed postcard of North Dakota, idly expecting the steel rails to yield some inspiration. Instead, I was deposited unceremoniously outside an RV … Read more
Yes, Sid Hartman works hard at his job and does it well [“Celebrating Sid!,” January], providing inside dope for that noisy, pushy minority who think pro sports are important. Many of us have meaningful lives and don’t need to identify with the staged battles between millionaires. Sid is also a tireless crusader against women’s athletics, … Read more
You might remember that I revoked Clinton Collins’ “Brother Card” a few months ago [Letters, September 2002]. Clinton, after reading your most recent column, my knees buckled. I don’t think I have ever read or heard a more balanced position to the reparations/affirmative action issues that face this nation. Your article was so strong in … Read more
I laughed so hard with your SUV article. It is so true. I am one of the few owners whose SUV spends more time off-road than chasing to the supermarket. I live in a rural area, megasnow, and I am a nurse who must get to work when scheduled. Just caught your link off the … Read more
I beg to differ with a few of the assumptions Mr. Hans Eisenbeis makes in his recent article on SUVs [Good Intentions, February], but in the interest of space, I’ll only rant on one: I have no self-hatred nor is any element of my sense of self tied up in my opinions about SUVs. I … Read more