Happy Solstice everyone! It only gets sunnier here on out.
Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, not...
Pagan that I am, I am bringing in some greenery and lighting some candles to make the sun come back. And now they tell me even the moon went missing for awhile! Looks like I have my work set out for me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Solstice One & All!
ReplyDeleteRobert and Marti, here's a review of the Kennedy as editor books:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122005703.html
We are awash in rain in So.Cal.I have been here since 1982 and can't recall a five day stretch like this.Tonight into Wed is going to be the big sendoff as a cold low pressure collides with the warm tropical moisture that's been coming from Aloha land.Hopefully the winds won't be as strong along the coastal areas as they will be inland.
ReplyDeleteWinter came early I guess to Lithuania. We've buried under snow for three weeks now with the temps mostly in the single digits. Of course, it all looks quite lovely as long as you don't have to drive anywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt took me two full hours to shovel out on Monday, and even then I decided it wasn't worth leaving the house -- way too much snow on the roads. This is one of the predicted big impacts of climate change -- warmer oceans which create more moisture, at least in some places.
ReplyDeleteWow -- I just looked at the LA Times site -- Laguna Beach is closed because of the rain. Be safe down there, Bo.
ReplyDeleteLaguna sits down a canyon and they really got slammed.Lost a good portion of their beach also.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Avrds, for posting the link to the review about the Jackie books. I probably wouldn't have even been aware that she was at Doubleday if I hadn't heard about her from a man I worked with at Grey Advertising. His wife was an editor whose office was on the same hall as Jackie's. Jackie was very well liked there.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Marti. Interesting how they are both coming out at once.
ReplyDeleteOn the side I'm reading Washington Rules by Andrew Bacevich. I have really grown to like him as a writer and thinker. He came from the military right as far as I can tell, but is trying to "reeducate" himself as he explains in the book -- about the semi-permanent state of war the US now promotes.
My holiday gift to everyone, from Josh Kornbluth. Without a doubt, my favorite Christmas story:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8pw0sXDV0c
Hopefully NY Temps will show up at some point, since I think she's also a big fan of his.
Avrds: I am glad that the end is in sight. Your graduation party might be a good excuse to see Montana! I am in the early stages of the WW1 book,still struggling to find an authentic French voice.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very wet summer but nothing like your dramas. Take care all.
ReplyDeleteMay 5, 2012. Make a note of it. And there will be trips into Yellowstone.
ReplyDeleteIt's the light at the end of the tunnel for me, though it means giving up my insurance and my library privileges -- which is why I've hung on for so long. But now I have a party to plan, so I'd better keep writing.
Congratulations,av, albeit a bit premature ; )
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, everyone. And thanks, Gintaras. I'll make it! I have a goal now.
ReplyDeleteAvrds: I'll try to make the party. Sounds good. I am reading Tony Judt's The Memory Chalet. Enlightening, intelligent and,given the circumstances, very moving.A superb pice on French intellectuals" Paris was Yesterday".
ReplyDeleteI read Judt's Ill Fares the Land and it was excellent. I think that book and Bacevich's new Washington Rules should be required reading for anyone who cares about the future of the country.
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