“Stones Into Schools”
Recently, the truthfulness of Greg Mortenson’s memoir, “Stones into Schools”, was called into question by 60 minutes. The report questioned some of the events described in the book by author. Read more….. »
Archive for April, 2011
Even The Hot Dogs Are Special In Manhattan
It’s all the rage to get yourself noticed in Manhattan. You make it here, you make it-well, you know how the song goes. Cliches are the enemy of the writer, but everything about a literary gathering in New York is drenched with cliches. It would be more of a surprise if it were in Omaha, unless you were Omaha resenting the hick stereotype of your not so little town. Read more….. »
The Bride Wore Black
It is past midnight now, but she refuses to go to sleep in the bed that mocks her with insomnia. Sleep is something that has been stolen from her, another one of those ordinary things that say her life is not like others. But she is beyond caring that her circumstances have put her past even the fringe of belonging. Read more….. »
“War”
War is a subject of endless debate. Should we go to war, is war evil, when is war just, when is it justifiable, and on and on. But what does war actually feel like? This is what Sebastian Junger explores in his book “War” as he lives amidst an American fighting platoon in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. Read more….. »
A Cigarette Away From Oblivion
He lay on the hotel bed with her, the room smelling rancidly of the sex they just had. It wasn’t a cheap hotel room, she wasn’t a cheap trick, but the whole thing smelled cheap. He wasn’t even sure what her name was. Randi, the escort service had said. But who knew. He’d lied about his name to her, and once you lied yourself, you could never be sure of the anyone else’s truth. Read more….. »
“Final Warning”
What happens after a nuclear accident, especially to its human victims? The recent disaster in Japan is only the latest major incident to raise this question. One might also think of Chernobyl, the 1986 disaster in Soviet Ukraine, and its aftermath. Dr. Robert Peter Gale is an American who witnessed this aftermath. In “Final Warning”, he writes his personal account of living with the human tragedy of a nuclear disaster. Read more….. »