The Digested Read at The Guardian reduces popular books to 400 words and a conclusion. Recent notables include
Belle du Jour ("Sometimes I lie about my age to clients. Sometimes I even lie to my friends. I guess you must be wondering whether I'm lying now.") Crichton's
State of Fear ("Author's note: I'm very, very clever and have read a lot and you're all stupid wishy-washy liberals.") and Tom Wolfe's
I am Charlotte Simmons ("At least it covered her breasts, whatever they were. Charlotte knew men might want to touch them, but she didn't know why as she had never read Cosmopolitan.") Possibly NSFW if you have an employer with no sense of humor. On preview: Individual Digested Reads have been linked in previous discussions on
Henry James and
Camille Paglia.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Jan 17, 2005 -
9 comments
For any society, in any age, the study of politics
ultimately comes down to one elemental question: how are people
persuaded to acquiesce in a polity where the distribution of power is
manifestly unequal and unjust, as it invariably is. -- The quote from
David Cannadine that opened a recent Newsnight
newsletter from Jeremy Paxman. Email may not be the sexiest 'net medium, but I wait daily for two witty, well informed summaries of UK current affairs; the second is Channel 4's
Snow Mail. And weekly, there's the Guardian's
Backbencher.
posted by andrew cooke
on Dec 6, 2003 -
2 comments
perhaps i would have read more in high school...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Nurse Ratched: I destroy my patients psychologically so I can have power and control.
Randall P. McMurphy: But freedom and happiness are good things.
Nurse Ratched: Lobotomy time for you, buster.
(McMurphy DIES but inspires HOPE so OTHERS may LIVE.)
posted by bluishorange
on Feb 23, 2000 -
4 comments
