Archive for February, 2007

Primo Primo Levi

“This star was very big and very hot, and its weight was enormous: and here a reporter’s difficulties begin.” — from the title story of Primo Levi’s A Tranquil Star.

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Too pat?

Inside Randa Jarrar’s MFA workshop: “Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’ was ‘cheesy.’ Borges and Poe tied some of their stories up too ‘neatly.’ Maupassant’s twists were ‘pat.’”

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Soviet science text

A Soviet science book for children includes some stunning art. A rough translation of the title: Earth Is Still A Long Way Off.

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Gessen on Amis

Ask and ye, well, might just be lucky. Keith Gessen ponders Martin Amis’ “five-year excursion through Russian history during the global war on terror.”

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