Headlines like The Death of the Novel, The Death of Reading or Why Johnny Can’t Read are effective in selling magazines. They usually reflect some concerning shifts in the cultural or educational landscape, but at the cost of shrinking the complexity of the problem they are attempting to alert us to.That’s the mindset I brought to the recent featured story in The Atlantic by Rose Horowitch...
The route to our plot in the community garden takes me past the site of the Obama Center 3 or 4 times a week. As a result, I’ve witnessed the construction of the main building and the reshaping of the surrounding environment during the past 3 or 4 years. I’ve hated the emerging shape of the centerpiece from the beginning. It’s bulbous and aesthetically unpleasing; the finished product hasn’t...
At the end of last week’s posting, I used the world’s oldest literary device – leaving you in suspense about the contents of the envelope that my friend Bruce Thomas’s son handed me as we were leaving the memorial service for Bruce. A number of you took the bait and wrote back to say you couldn’t wait for the next posting. I hope today’s entry isn’t too much of letdown for you, but the gift in...