Meeting: Saturday, January 26, 2008

January 14, 2008

JANUARY 14, 2008

A REPORTER AT LARGE
American Scrap
John Seabrook
The remaking of an old-school trade.
Q. Is Seabrook focusing more on the scrap trade today or it's origins and history? What do you think about the characters and the jargon? Does he capture the spirit of recycling or the joy of destruction?


THE CRITICS
A CRITIC AT LARGE
The films of Otto Preminger.
David Denby
Q. What makes this such a readable story? Is it Denby's prose, Preminger's life and antics, the trappings of Hollywood and it's stars of the time? If you've seen any of the movies, do you agree with DD's assessments?

January 21, 2008

JANUARY 21, 2008

THE TALK OF THE TOWN
James Surowiecki on job numbers.
Q. JS claims "jobs numbers ... are much better than their critics say they are but nowhere near as good as investors believe them to be". Does he prove that in his essay? Or is it an unprovable, but uncontroversial claim? Do gamblers care?


A REPORTER AT LARGE
The Spymaster
Lawrence Wright
The new director of National Intelligence has a controversial plan to tighten national security.
Q. Reorganizing the intelligence community, like the armed forces, appears to be a good thing. Still there's many complicated aspects to McConnell. Should he be trusted? Is it a moral community? Is the spy game "good against evil"? "us against them"?


A CRITIC AT LARGE
The Roving Eye
Judith Thurman
Lee Miller and the camera.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/01/21/slideshow_080121_miller?viewall=true#showHeader

Q. What is Miller's most compelling trait as an artist? Is she fearless? obsessed? How do you balance images of Lee Miller as war correspondent and fashion icon? Is she a product of fate or in complete control of her success?
Posted at