February 17, 2004

Links of the day

A word of advice: it's not a good idea to catch the flu (or something flu-like) as you're rushing to finish your dissertation proposal.

I'll have something more substantive to write after I'm fully recovered, but for now, here are some of the links that have gotten me through my most recent bout of illness:


  • In The New York Times, Douglas Brinkley discusses the 100th anniversary of George Kennan's birth.
  • A New York Times op-ed piece by Bob Greene looks back on the 1960 Wisconsin primary and the documentary work of Robert Drew.
  • Terry Eagleton has published a charming review of Frank Kermode's new book on Shakespeare in The Nation. (He even includes a gratuitous dig at Bernard Lewis!)
  • The Weekly Standard features a weird little article on "the Wodehouse conservative."
  • What does art have to tell us about genetics? The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
  • The Christian Science Monitor looks at "the troubled popularity of Somerset Maugham." The Chronicle discusses the recent resurgence of interest in the works of Patricia Highsmith.
  • Frank Kermode looks at the life of Lady Gregory.
  • There's a lot of great stuff in this month's Atlantic Monthly. Unfortunately, however, most of it isn't available online. Do check out Joshua Green's article on why presidential candidates like to get celebrity endorsements and Christopher Hitchens's profile of John Buchan.

Question of the day: why do I like Hitchens much more when he writes about literature than when he writes about politics? Is his writing on literature better? Am I better at noticing the flaws in his political writing, given that I know much more about it? Am I intolerant of writers when they disagree with me?

Posted by Ed at February 17, 2004 01:20 PM

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