F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the American dream primarily through its failures to bring happiness to his main characters.
Books
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
The French Foreign Legion: the colonial force par excellence
A new book situates the Legion within the shameful history of French colonialism.
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On the campaign trail in 1960 with John F. Kennedy
For those who still want to believe that a full JFK presidency would surely have led to an American Camelot, this book is not for you.
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An unsettling look at America’s culture of self-defense
“Stand your ground” laws typically expand the historic reach of the “castle doctrine,” the right in English common law to defending one’s own property.
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Telling stories and paying witness to suffering
Elizabeth Strout’s new short story collection offers an array of poignant case studies portraying this legacy of trauma.
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Bringing Thomas Merton’s wisdom to children with an ABC book
A new introduction could plant seeds in children that will perhaps flower later in life.
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Telling stories and paying witness to suffering
While Strout’s masterful design draws us in, it is the searing emotional specificity of her language that captures us.
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The chaos and heartbreak of mental illness
The enemy is not so much public misunderstanding as indifference and helplessness, Ron Powers writes.
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The transformation of Islam
People often say Islam needs an Enlightenment, but the Islamic Enlightenment has already happened, Christopher de Bellaigue writes.
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In Alice McDermott’s new Brooklyn novel, Sister knows best
Alice McDermott has once again delivered a novel to ponder and cherish, from its moral quandaries down to its wry humor and hypnotic prose.