Word: robust
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...anti-prejudice message is hidden (in David Guterson's novel) behind dense thickets of rich, writerly prose and a narrative that moves large numbers of characters back and forth in time as it proceeds, in its leisurely way, to solve the murder mystery that serves as its none-too-robust pacemaker. Readers in the millions took the book seriously because Guterson was so serious about it, though it did not hurt that his setting--an island in Puget Sound, before, during and immediately after World War II--was fresh and exotic...
...artistic maneuver on Beck's part than as a long-term fixture in a CD-changer. It's the most straightforward (and final) track, in fact, that will probably become Midnite Vulture's best-remembered track. "Debra" is a funk-love send-up; its proto-cheesy sound is so robust that all irony melts away. It's got joy, like the joy Beck had when he was so suddenly confident of "Where It [was] At." The rest of the album approaches the clarity of "Debra," as if Beck is trying on mask after mask until he finds the one that...
...time I arrived, Jay had been there two weeks, which to me, just beginning to come down from the pills and dope, seemed like an incredibly long time to stay clean. Over the next few weeks, his robust optimism and constant wisecracking would be an inspiration to me as I muddled through very early sobriety. I had been convinced after that first night that I would never laugh again. Jay was proof that life without drugs could be fun--that you could retain your sense of humor...
...segment of the Nile River that runs into the Mediterranean (Africa) are in terrible shape, due mostly to agricultural and industrial run-off, as well as increased rates of evaporation. On the bright(er) side, the relatively sheltered Amazon (South America) and Congo (sub-Saharan Africa) are looking pretty robust. For the moment, anyway...
Awakenings, with 12 chapters in the New York City area, is a program aimed at "robust responders"--medical jargon for high-functioning individuals. Founder Ken Steele, who for 32 years wandered across America homeless and schizophrenic, feels that the most formidable task for the mentally ill is overcoming the social stigma. "The public's synonym for us is still psycho," he says. "We are feared and misunderstood." Partly to counter this, individuals with mental illness call themselves "consumers"--an emotionally neutral word meant to suggest people who consume medications and services associated with psychiatric disability. A voting effort, for example...