October 2001
In This Issue
William Langewiesche, “Peace Is Hell”; Fred Kaplan, “JFK's First-Strike Plan”; Studs Terkel, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”; Eugen Weber, “France's Downfall”; fiction by Karen Shepard; Thomas Mallon on Edna St. Vincent Millay; and much more.
Articles
An Observer of Catastrophe
In Sybille Bedford's work the great emotional and moral questions remain unanswered
Rendezvous
Ask Dave About Tic-Tac-Toe
Play fair, for heaven's sake
In Defense of C. S. Lewis
A rebuttal of recent denunciations of the classic Chronicles of Narnia as racist, misogynist, "poisonous" works
New Life for Moore's Law
After four decades of remarkably steady progress, advances in computer-chip technology seemed in danger of slowing. Not anymore
Birding at the Edge
Attu, the outermost of the Aleutian Islands, is remote, primitive, and cold, but it is the likeliest place in North America to catch sight of a number of avian rarities
Civility vs. Civilité
No matter what the dictionary says, "politeness" and "rudeness" aren't easily translated
77 North Washington Street
Peace is Hell
Every six months the Pentagon sends nearly 4,000 soldiers to Bosnia and brings nearly 4,000 soldiers home. To see how it's done is to understand why keeping peace has become harder than waging war—and why the Pax Americana has stretched the mighty American military to the limit
Letters to the editor
Hustler With a Lyric Voice
Edna St. Vincent Millay combined a modern sensibility with traditional forms
Out of the Ordinary
"Mundane studies" comes of age
New & Noteworthy
A sly and sublime historical novel; disappointing Didion; coming of age in Hollywood
Centennial of an Assassination
Popular Girls
A Short Story
Thanks for Nothing
A former chief economist at the World Bank offers a case study in how heavy-handed interference can break what doesn't need fixing
Word Fugitives
France's Downfall
The most comprehensive account of the most sordid period in French history
Home Away From Home
The European Parliament has no fixed seat and spends a small fortune each month trekking from Belgium and Luxembourg to France
Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
Interviews with a paramedic, a social worker, an undertaker, and a mother about their experiences with death and dying
In search of the perfect storm
The race for ever more sensational "torn porn" is on
JFK's First-Strike Plan
The Berlin crisis of 1961 does not loom large in the American memory, but it was an episode that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war—nuclear war. Newly available documents reveal that the Kennedy White House drew up detailed plans for a nuclear first strike against the Soviets, and that President Kennedy explored the first-strike option seriously
