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Author Archives: thuudung
Sergei Prokofiev’s wife
Lina Codina – beautiful, polyglot, soprano – had every reason to expect a bright future. Ah, but then she married Sergei Prokofiev… more»
Reason, emotion, and Hitler
How do we, or should we, react to Hitler? With cool, calculated reason? Or rage and moral fervor? Yes and yes. Carlin Romano explains… more»
Americans are weird
The weirdness of the American mind. An attempt to reverse-engineer psychological research gives the lie to universalism. Culture shapes cognition… more»
Do-it-yourself language
Inventing a language is arduous, even preposterous. Yet invented languages are ubiquitous. What’s the motivation? Ego, sure, but mostly dissatisfaction… more»
Letters of William Styron
William Styron’s letters are a catalog of phobias and preoccupations. The latter includes money, race relations, and sex. The chief phobia: literary critics… more»
On Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn had a flair for the theatrical and a knack for engaging audiences. As a thinker, however, he was lazy, conventional, and sloppy… more»
On Charles Jackson
What’s it like to be a good writer who dreams of being a genius? Agony, for Charles Jackson, who chose to end his booze-addled life… more»
Betrayal of Hitchens’s publisher
Nick Cohen has a warning for lefties: Beware of Verso. The company may offer to publish you. But good luck getting royalties, or escaping with your reputation intact… more»
Thomas Nagel, the heretic
Philosophers used to have the confidence to question scientists. Today it’s a rare trait. Thomas Nagel is the exception, and he’s ostracized for it… more»