Word: orphaned
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...rest of the family gets along well enough -- "at times," Leo says, "their lunacies harmonized" -- but he is an outsider, an orphan. These people think he is theirs. Leo knows better: "Because I dream, I'm not." He is half Italian: Leolo Lozone, conceived during his mother's fruitful collision with a sperm-soaked Sicilian tomato. A bright, lonely boy could not be the spawn of this horrid clan. Surely he is not destined to replicate their mean lives and dead-end careers or the madness to which they are all heir. And so, in this slum of bruised humanity...
...narrator's mother and father died in a car crash when he was young. Left without either of his own, he was always attracted to other people's parents, insinuating himself upon those of his schoolfriends. In time he befriends his in-laws. The moment that this rootless orphan achieves stability in marriage, he is introduced to a couple which epitomizes his dilemma. His wife's parents are two opposites: the father, Bernard, is a rational humanist; the mother, June, a fervent, unquestioning Christian. In their youth, both had been dedicated communists, eager to change the world with their backpacks...
Responding to Winfrey's question "Did your father ever beat you?," Michael tried to smile as he said, "Yes." Then, in an aside to his father, "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me." With that wincing smile, Jackson was like a wounded orphan who has walked through fire and has booked a return trip. How strong is the bond, the bondage, of victim to victimizer? Dangerous is "dedicated to my dearest parents, Katherine and Joseph Jackson...
...Hollywood, though, it is a guiding principle. The industry wants audiences to feel they have seen this ( thing before but don't know where or when. Nearly every movie plot is a reprise of a story that has already worked. Recombinant familiarity means box office; originality is an orphan, subversive and suspect...
ACCORDING TO YIDDISH LORE, THE CLASSIC DEFINItion of chutzpah is a man who kills both parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan. Inmates in New York City may be offering a modern illustration: some prisoners may be turning guns on themselves in order to file multimillion- dollar lawsuits against the city -- for failing to provide adequate protection in jail. The city's department of investigation says there are currently at least eight such suits filed or pending, seeking damages of up to $8.5 million. Investigators charge that the majority of the suits involve...