Word: explainer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Sometimes Kennedy would get on the phone himself to explain why he was turning down a request. Writer Michael Gross, who had reported on Kennedy for New York and Esquire magazines, talked with him about a book project in the fall of 1998. By way of declining, Kennedy brought up the impending 35th anniversary of his father's assassination. "There are tons of books coming out," he said, "some with the family's involvement, but it's just not me." He talked about George. "I find the magazine excruciating at times, when I have to participate in a personal...
Instead, he asked to toast former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, an architect of America's failed war in Vietnam, to illustrate his topic. People would understand the point better if he didn't make it too personal. The important thing was to explain to folks that entering the public arena was an invitation to great sorrow but that it was a noble calling nonetheless. His toast to McNamara is reprinted below...
There was never a need to explain the details. People always seemed to nod in agreement, heads cocked, with a hint of pity in their eyes. Maybe they didn't understand the nuances--that not being into one night stands at final clubs or ready to be engaged to the first boy I locked eyes with during first-year orientation week relegated me to a loathsome majority of eligible co-eds always hoping that Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday. Maybe they wrongfully assumed my idea of fun was a night in the Widener stacks...
There was never a need to explain the details. People always seemed to nod in agreement, heads cocked, with a hint of pity in their eyes. Maybe they didn't understand the nuances--that not being into one night stands at final clubs or ready to be engaged to the first boy I locked eyes with during first-year orientation week relegated me to a loathsome majority of eligible co-eds always hoping that Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday. Maybe they wrongfully assumed my idea of fun was a night in the Widener stacks...
...Perks of Being a Wallflower is presented as a collection of letters the narrator has written to an unspecified recipient. Nearing the end of his freshman year, Charlie realizes what he likes about a certain book, and his description serves to explain the appeal of his own narrative: "It wasn't like you had to really search for the philosophy. It was pretty straightforward, I thought, and the great part is that I took what the author wrote about and put it in terms of my own life...