Word: benn
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...theme of intellectual haplessness. Its narrator, Kenneth Trachtenberg, 35, is an assistant professor of Russian literature at a university in an unnamed "Rustbelt metropolis" in the Midwest. Raised in Paris by expatriate American parents, Kenneth has come back to the U.S. to be near his maternal uncle Benn Crader, a man in his 50s and an eminent botanist, revered by fellow specialists for his work on Arctic lichens. Kenneth's obsession with Benn stems from a conviction that "you have no reason to exist unless you believe you can make your life a turning point. A turning point for everybody...
...avoid that fate, British lords have been known to give up their titles. Like Sir Anthony Wedgwood Benn, Viscount Stansgate, who gave up his title and most of his name (he goes by Tony Benn now) to keep his seat in the Commons. It's not clear what a comparable rule in this country might be, though a vow never to appear on Carson or eat at Elaine's would be a start...
...biggest guns to help Candidate Bourne, the effort seemed less than wholehearted. From the Conservatives' viewpoint, a victory that would have added one more seat to an existing 144-seat majority in the House of Commons was only a little more desirable than the prospect of seeing Benn re-elected and reigniting left-right tensions in opposition ranks...
Said Liberal Leader David Steel: "I don't think Thatcher is exactly in tears that Benn is going to be around messing things up for the Labor Party for the next four years...
Labor dispatched scores of M.P.s to campaign for Benn, but Party Leader Neil Kinnock must have been of two minds about the Benn candidacy. Labor could not afford to lose in Chesterfield, a party stronghold for nearly 50 years. But Kinnock has worked hard during the past five months to smooth over the left-right split in the party, and Benn's return to the Commons might jeopardize that achievement. In the end, the result was probably just what Kinnock needed: a Labor victory, but narrow enough to keep Benn from claiming a mandate for left-wing insurrection...