We grow up hearing the adage that “History is told by the victors”—the notion that those in power possess jurisdiction over our shared story. In authorized versions of history, the prevailing orthodoxy decides whose lives were... Read More

The Italian author, Italo Calvino (best known for his fantastical storytelling, particularly in The Castle of Crossed Destinies, a retelling of the Decameron), believed that half the books in one’s library should be books one has not... Read More

“Everyone decided to play hide-and-seek. Nipper climbed into a big clam shell and pulled it shut.” Uh-oh. It seemed like a good idea, but things don’t always work out, especially for Nipper, the little crab who wants badly to be... Read More

Last year the United States recognized the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, “Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education,” a decision that declared segregation in U.S. schools unconstitutional. In academic... Read More

Few Baby Boomers who grew up lunching in public school cafeterias escaped ladles of an over-salted, brown glop known as chop suey. That meal passed as an introduction to “Asian” food, despite its dubious and controversial origins... Read More

Reader beware—do not dive into this book before a meal. While this is primarily a tale of strategic success, no story about Trader Joe’s, the gourmet shop for bargain hunters, can be told without liberal mention of its products, from... Read More

In the past, when I’ve talked to audiences like this, I’ve often started off with a lawyer joke, a complete caricature of a lawyer who’s been nasty, greedy and unethical. But I’ve stopped that practice. I gradually realized that... Read More

Depending on one’s frame of reference, the term “Gothic novel” conjures images of beautiful young women in trailing diaphanous vestments, treading winding cobweb-ridden staircases in mouldering old mansions, armed only with... Read More