From TNR, David Rieff reviews Famine: A Short History by Cormac O Grada. There is no try: Ethan Gilsdorf on having faith in the Force. 666 to 1: Nick Turse and Tom Engelhardt on the U.S. military, al-Qaeda, and a war of futility. From Bookforum's "Syllabi", Lisa Darms on books about walking. Decimated: What if Napoleon hadn’t abolished decimal time? For toilet paper manufacturers this means: Make your ad sexy, but don't forget to place a red ribbon and a small price tag around the toilet roll. An interview with Robert Goodwin on books on rewriting America. Apple vs. Obama: Which is more important, politics or technology? Why we need celebrity autobiographies: If we can't hear the voices of celebrities such as Kerry Katona, we will hate them — because we won't understand them. Suburban Warrior Syndrome: From The Matrix to Harry Potter, heroic fantasy is hot stuff — these modern epics tap into our frustrated impulse to be 21st-century knights. The cost to Americans of boorishness at their border: An entry process now rated as world's worst is keeping out tourists, students, immigrants. Meet the women who are proud to swear. The Coming Insurrection, a slim political pamphlet recently translated into English by the left-wing publisher Semiotext(e), first achieved notoriety through a terrorism trial in France; the details of this absurd and disturbing circus are now widely known. A review of Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland. A review of Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell (and more). Obituary: J. D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye (and here are all of his stories at The New Yorker).
