From The Nation, in the theater of Isak Dinesen: A reconsideration of the fictive truths behind a storyteller's many masks. Angel or demon: Could Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol spell the end for the printed word? The Family Business: Are John and Dan Fante ready for the big time? A review of The Lost Origins of the Essay by John D'Agata. We just celebrated the moon landing and a solar eclipse — what's a poet's take on the cosmos? From Forward, not science fiction: An interview with Jonathan Lethem on the novels of Philip K. Dick; and a review of Arthur Miller: 1915–1962 by Christopher Bigsby. A review of The Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot by Gertrude Himmelfarb. A review of George Eliot: Novelist, Lover, Wife by Brenda Maddox (and more). Second Reading: Jonathan Yardley reexamines Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. A review of Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath by Rick Wartzman. From Double X, an article on the death on chick lit. A look at what Mario Puzo godfathered 40 years ago. Art is a weapon in the struggle of ideas: An interview with Amiri Baraka. Socialism and suspense: Eric Ambler was born a century ago, but the morally compromised world of his left-wing thrillers is still very familiar today.

Race and diversity in the Age of Obama: In private life blacks remain as isolated from whites as in the Jim Crow era. Adam Serwer on the de-facto segregation of health care. Obama v. the angry white men: Economic recovery won't silence the mobs attacking healthcare reform. The politics of the jackboot: If we can't draw the line at the threat of violence, democracy begins to disintegrate. Fascist America — are we there yet? Sara Robinson investigates (and part 2). From Esquire, is Obama fascist? A look at the new American religion behind the growing American rage. Obama is a totalitarian illegal alien, he's going to execute grandma!: Scott McLemee takes refuge with a classic study of political mania, Prophets of Deceit: A Study of the Techniques of the American Agitator by Leo Lowenthal and Norbert Guterman. Nominated to a White House job, legal scholar Cass Sunstein has become a victim of the very thing he writes books about: conspiracy theories and paranoid rumors. Joe Klein on how the GOP has become a party of nihilists. The next Sarah Palin: Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire’s GOP rising star, is a folksy, gun-loving mother of two.

A review of Balfour and Weizmann: The Zionist, the Zealot and the Emergence of Israel by Geoffrey Lewis. How to fall into Carl Schmitt's trap: A review of Carl Schmitt and the Jews: The "Jewish Question," the Holocaust, and German Legal Theory by Raphael Gross. A review of Inside A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel by Ronald and Allis Radosh. A review of Rich Cohen's Israel is Real (and more and more and more). A review of Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a US Spy Ship by James Scott (and more). Deep inside Israel's military forces, how does living with war affect their view the world? Being an Orthodox dove in Israel is a complicated business. An excerpt from One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict by Benny Morris. Gershom Gorenberg reviews Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the Claims of Memory by Ahmad Sa’di and Lila Abu-Lughod. Abstract prayers for peace: Slavoj Zizek on the Palestinian Question (and part 2). Hey Obama, don't waste your time giving a speech in Israel. The self-hate hustle: Why the argument between conservative and progressive Jews over Israel sounds a like the African-American "house negro" debate. A review of Transforming America’s Israel Lobby by Dan Fleshler (and more).

From The Scholar and Feminist Online, a special issue on a Vision of Sexual and Economic Justice. From The New York Times Magazine, a special issue on Women's Rights as the Cause of Our Time. Go West: An article on the myths of femininity and feminist utopias in East and West. From The Atlantic, Christopher Hitchens reviews Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities by Elizabeth Edwards; and a review of Bad Girls Go Everywhere: The Life of Helen Gurley Brown by Jennifer Scanlon (and more by Joscelyn Jurich at Bookforum). Jean Kazez asks it it really is a tragedy when intelligent women become stay at home parents. A review of Regulating Autonomy: Sex, Reproduction and Family. Does research suggest poor circumstances breed daughters? Notes from an evolutionary psychology conference: Why won't your daughter call? A review of Sexual Coercion in Primates and Humans: An Evolutionary Perspective on Male Aggression Against Females. Sexual harassment isn't about being chased around the desk anymore — it's about flirtation, subtle power plays, and, of course, text messages. Michael Eric Dyson on why men need to get over their femiphobia. Ladies, want to not talk about feelings, a pal who'll offer to kick someone's ass for you? Hang with dudes.