Word: essays
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...Adversity and Character Re Michael Kinsley?s essay on politicians and personal tragedy: Kinsley, you?ve got to get out more [Sept. 8]. It is human ?nature to take the easy path. Keeping a Down-syndrome baby or refusing preferential treatment in prisoner-of-war conditions is a measure of character. That?s what it takes for me to choose a candidate, facing an uncertain world with insufficient data. Some can say what they?ll do under pressure; others have demonstrated what they did under the intense heat of reality. Troy Hammond, Ashburn, Virginia...
...Thanks to Kinsley?s essay, i now know why I never progressed beyond 15 years as a low-level city official and 55 years in a moderately successful broadcasting career. My father worked hard to make a decent living. He had no alcohol, drug or gambling problems, and he was home every night for a home-cooked meal. My mother stayed home and focused on keeping a good house and raising her two children. My two children are doing well in their chosen work. What chance do I have? Don Riggs, Bellevue, Washington...
...Class Should Not Be Dismissed In his essay on affirmative action, Michael Kinsley argues that class distinction is a social problem we "currently don't have much of" [Aug. 25]. What about so-called legacy college admissions, preferential scholarships, cronyism and hiring practices that often involve far fewer than six degrees of nepotistic separation? I would suggest consulting those at the bottom of the ladder before consigning the problem to the dustbin. Lane R. Garland, Winder...
...close to an answer as you'll get here is that Burn After Reading is an essay in the cocoon of ignorance most of us live in. It pushes the old form of movie comedy - smart people saying clever things - into collision with today's dominant model of slackers whose utterly unfounded egotism eventually worms its way into an audience's indulgence. Which is to say that most of the people here seem like bright lights but are actually dim bulbs. They're not falling-down stupid; they radiate the subtler variety of idiocy that can be mistaken for charm...
...told me that he considered not making a go of the Time job the biggest failure of his writing career. One explanation is his rivalry with Agee. In that 1958 essay - a piece so conflicted it could have been called "Let Us Now Praise/Blame Little/Big Men" - Manny seemed to prefer the Time Agee to the Nation one: "Agee's Time stint added up to a sharp, funny encyclopedia on the film industry in the 1940s. Though he occasionally lapsed into salesmanship through brilliantly subtle swami glamour (Henry V, the Ingrid Bergman cover story), Agee would be wisely remembered for quick...