Word: straightforwardness
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...precisely the right spot off the steel wicket is one way to get the grapefruit-size ball through the narrow hoop, anchored an unforgiving 9 in. into the ground with a clearance of one-sixteenth of an inch. A bewildering array of possible shots -- the simple roquet (a straightforward hit), the croquet (a split shot) and others, like the bisque, the take-off, pass roll, cut rush and cannon, that are too intricate to describe -- must be calculated a dozen moves in advance if a player is to peg out for a finish against a single stake in the center...
Like many immigrants, the short story was born in Europe and flourishes across the Atlantic. Case in point: The Barnum Museum (Poseidon; 237 pages; $18.95). Although Steven Millhauser can tell a straightforward anecdote, his true strength is magic realism. In one tale a boy steps behind a movie screen to find rooms full of ectoplasmic actors coming to life for an audience of one; in another, a certain Mr. Porter runs into inclement weather and washes away like a watercolor in a rainstorm. Brilliant parodies, pastiches and comments on Alice in Wonderland, Sinbad and T.S. Eliot show how this gifted...
...Milkovich's side, the legal issue is straightforward. "If the language is defamatory and may be proved false, it is plainly actionable," insists Milkovich's attorney, Brent English. Diadiun's supporters argue that making isolated facts in an article of opinion vulnerable to defamation damages would inhibit editorialists from arguing that a crook was wrongly found innocent, or sportswriters from criticizing questionable calls by umpires and referees. However, the Supreme Court -- reluctant to resolve the opinion-fact dilemma in the past -- could decide the case in a way that once again sidesteps the issue...
...both sort of straightforward and blunt with each other," Montalbano explains. "If I don't like something he's doing, I'll tell him. He does the same to me. We've had a bantering relationship where I don't take any of his crap and he doesn't take mine...
...London Symphony fiddlers know happy and sad too, and they get really sad when they are subjected to boring lectures. Thomas' approach, therefore, will be straightforward. "I'll just say, 'Let the phrase fall gently downward, legato -- smoothly.' The violinists will know that the left hand must be the most intense and the right hand must be the lightest, exactly at the right moment. As they do it again and again, it will work into their own reflexes and their own minds and will become more natural, more beautiful. That's when it gets exciting -- when I suddenly hear them...