Bisclavret is part of a book I'm reading, "Les Lais de Marie de France." [Modern and original French versions, side-by-side]. Also the tragedy Suréna [French link], by Pierre Corneille, and for a reading group, Genesis from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, as a literary, not religious, text. Last week the group read The Dead from James Joyce's "The Dubliners" and before that Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." What are you reading?
posted by Mo Nickels on Sep 8, 2001 - 49 comments

Nothing too big, exciting, scandalous, ironic or wacky, but in this article, several famous people who might be considered "American Achievers" are listed:

"The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Michael Jordan; Jonas Salk; Steven Spielberg; Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, the home fashion guru; Dorothy Hamill, the ice skater; Frederick W. Smith, the founder of Federal Express; and Steven Case, chairman of AOL Time Warner."

My question is: what criteria did the reporter, Elaine Sciolino, use to determine which famous people get an explanation and which don't? I know all of those names, except for Smith. My guess as to why more aren't defined is because it would sound crass to define some of the more impressive careers in just five words: "Jonas Salk, creator of the polio vaccine" or "The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., slain civil rights leader."
posted by Mo Nickels on May 10, 2001 - 11 comments