Meeting: Saturday, December 15, 2007

November 26, 2007

NOVEMBER 26, 2007

THE TALK OF THE TOWN
James Surowiecki on sovereign wealth funds.
Q. Is there a problem with government managed investment funds? There are already controls in place regarding the US government contracting with foreign companies. What would happen if China brought Boeing? or Ford?

LETTER FROM CHINA
Wheels of Fortune
Peter Hessler
The People’s Republic learns to drive.
Q. Was anything a surprise to you in this article? Have you ever driven overseas, Asia, Europe or elsewhere? What makes the China experience different from yours?

December 3, 2007

DECEMBER 3, 2007

ANNALS OF SCIENCE
Darwin’s Surprise
Michael Specter
An evolutionary discovery about viruses.
Q. What are the dangers of bringing retroviruses back to life? What's the most promising outcome of these discoveries? Is it a good thing that our genes carry so much information about our ancestors, even attributes and viruses that are extinct? Are viruses alive?

CHRONICLES
The Book of Exodus
Geraldine Brooks
Two families, two wars, and two rescues.
Q. How amazing is this story? If this was a fictional movie, would you believe the coincidences? Does the author present an atonement theme? Which is the more dramatic rescue?

THE CRITICS
A CRITIC AT LARGE
Cookbooks for carnivores.
Bill Buford
Q. All of the subjects are characters, but are they very different from each other? If you HAD to read one of their books, which would you chooses? Why?

December 10, 2007

DECEMBER 10, 2007

LIFE AND LETTERS
Reading My Father
Alexandra Styron
William Styron was the quintessential tough male writer, until depression claimed him.
Q. Is it the author's skill or the story she tells that makes this article compelling? Would you care if the subject wasn't a famous author of a famous book? How would you feel reading the words of a parent and possibly identifying them or yourself in the story?

ANNALS OF MEDICINE
The Checklist
Atul Gawande
Intensive care can harm as well as heal, but there’s a simple way of improving the odds.
Q. What's the lesson to take from this article? Does it apply to other disciplines besides intensive care? Medicine? Do you think this practice will be widely accepted? Why would it succeed or fail?

THE CRITICS
A CRITIC AT LARGE
The very different diaries of Leo Lerman and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Louis Menand
Q. How do diaries compare to blogs? Which of the three theories apply to bloggers? To Schlessinger? To Lerman? Does the writing skill of the diarist matter?