Word: tailspins
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...does not work, of course. But Calvino's narrative of this doomed quest succeeds admirably, in part because he, like Samuel Beckett, recognizes the comic possibilities inherent in the tailspin of logic toward the absurd. Mr. Palomar's relentless speculations render him buffoonish. Passing a woman sunbathing topless on a beach, he averts his eyes lest she cover herself and embarrass them both. On reflection, though, he decides that his behavior was incorrect, since it reinforced outmoded taboos against nudity. So he walks by again, this time taking in the bare breasts as an incidental feature in the general landscape...
...schedule remains No. 1. Carson is still king of late-night, and Letterman the hippest of clown princes. Only daytime is a slum for profits when it could be a gold mine; ABC's supremacy with its afternoon soaps helps it lead NBC in total network profits, despite the tailspin ABC has taken in the evening. Recently, NBC's afternoon schedule has begun to mimic the NBC prime time of the early '80s: its ratings are still abysmal, but its share of women in the 18 to 49 age group now rivals CBS's. Each week Tartikoff hosts a "Santa...
Once upon a time, Howard Hughes set airspeed records and looked like Indiana Jones. Then came the long, slow tailspin into lunacy. By the time of his death in 1976, the image lodged in the public mind was of an aging billionaire with uncut hair and Fu Manchu fingernails hidden in a darkened Las Vegas hotel room. An unhealthy disregard for reality became synonymous with the recluse's name. A fake autobiography by Clifford Irving and the forged "Mormon" will that brought fame to Melvin Dummar only made matters worse. One could never be sure of anything written...
...effect allowed Syria to become master of Lebanon, but the Syrians were not much more effective than anyone else in bringing peace to Lebanon's warring factions. Meanwhile, the Israeli population grew more and more weary with their occupation of southern Lebanon. With their economy in a tailspin (400% inflation then, more than 800% now), the Israelis delivered a mixed, and not very helpful, election verdict. Lacking a clear winner, the two rival blocs, Likud and Labor, set up an unusual arrangement in which the office of Prime Minister would change after 25 months. Shimon Peres, taking the first turn...
Given this judgment, it is hard to imagine what Cheever could have done to please his daughter. She suffered when he was exultant and when he was miserable. The mixed reviews and lackluster sales of Bullet Park (1969) sent him into a tailspin that nearly killed him. His drinking accelerated: "It became clearer and clearer that my father was the worst kind of alcoholic. He seemed intent on destroying himself." The strains in his marriage to his wife Mary broke violently into the open: "When we children were at home during these years between 1969 and the mid-1970s...