Word: lire
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...exhaustively introspective dissection of her love affairs. One of the few contemporary French writers widely published abroad, Michel Houellebecq, is known chiefly for misogyny, misanthropy and an obsession with sex. "In America, a writer wants to work hard and be successful," says François Busnel, editorial director of Lire, a popular magazine about books (only in France!). "French writers think they have to be intellectuals...
...with evidence that people have, at best, a hazy recollection of what things really used to cost. One study by two psychologists and an economist, to be published by the Bank of Italy, asked moviegoers in Rome if they remembered how much cinema tickets used to cost in lire before the introduction of the euro in 2002. Less than 1 in 10 got the amount right, while more than half underestimated the true cost by at least...
...laugh that people take it seriously." Still, Eco treats lowbrow cultural phenomena with the same seriousness as higher-flown accomplishments. In one essay, for example, he analyzes the essence of Italian society by observing Mike Bongiorno, a TV game show host; another dissects the design of the 1,000-lire note. He has also described how comic-book hero Flash Gordon imparted American ideals to children growing up in Mussolini's Italy. Everything is grist for his mill. Eco's catholic approach is reflected by the way in which contemporary paintings on the walls of his spacious apartment are interspersed...
...made up of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, took place last weekend. The Italian lira was devalued by 6%, while other currencies were revalued 2%. The Italian currency came under heavy speculative pressure on Friday, with its value going from 1,870 lire to the dollar to 2,200 in a few hours before the Bank of Italy stepped in and ordered a halt to trading...
...plotting to murder a local Kurdish official. Though the soldiers were released after two days, Ankara angrily denounced the arrests. Chief of Staff General Hilmi Ozkok declared the arrests "the biggest crisis of confidence between Turkish and American armed forces to date." The Istanbul stock market and the lire slid over fears that the Pentagon was punishing Ankara for failing to back its war on Iraq. Plane Tragedy SUDAN A toddler was the sole survivor when a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 crashed 10 minutes after takeoff, killing all of the remaining 115 passengers and crew. The pilot had reported technical...