William Kristof, the much traveled Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, wrote recently about the disturbing way that children’s IQ scores often drop over summer vacation. The cause is lack of intellectual stimulation. The problem is more severe with poor than it is with middle class kids. As an antidote, Kristof offered […]
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Applying Kipling’s “If” to Wimbledon
An exhilarating and exhausting week at Wimbledon has come to an end with an exhilarating and exhausting match between Swiss player Roger Federer and American Andy Roddick. Roddick was once my favorite player and Federer is my current favorite so I felt torn as I watched the longest match in grand slam history. It came […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Andy Roddick, If, Roger Federer, Rudyard Kipling, tennis Comments closed
Gatsby in Iran: A Dream Betrayed
The Iranian authorities allowed Nafisi to teach “The Great Gatsby” because they regarded it as an expose of American materialism and decadence. And certainly it has that dimension. But Nafisi focused more on how the work explores the betrayal of dreams. Both countries have experience with that betrayal.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Azar Nafisi, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby, Reading Lolita in Tehran, tyranny Comments closed
Reviewing Lolita in Tehran
Yesterday’s mention of Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books gave me an excuse to go back and reread that marvelous book. The work embodies the central premise of this website: that literature can come to our aid when we need it most, helping us negotiate even the most difficult of […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Azar Nafisi, oppression, Reading Lolita in Tehran, Thousand and One Nights, tyranny Comments closed
