Issue of August 11 & 18, 2008

August 11 & 18, 2008

AUGUST 11 & 18, 2008

Q. Commons vs. Anti-commons. Two flawed strategies. What's the best thing to learn from each?

LETTER FROM PLANT CITY, Florida
The Strawberry Girls
Celebrating a new queen and her court.
by Anne Hull

Slide Show: A portfolio of photographs of the Plant City Strawberry Festival Court, a Florida tradition since 1930, by Brian Finke.

Q. Is this unbiased reporting or a personal experience? Could this have been published in a different magazine or newspaper? Why did AH write it?

FICTION
The Dinner Party
by Joshua Ferris
Q. Cast the movie. Who plays each character? Direct it. Liberal use of flashbacks? Finish the story... want to provide a real ending? (Damn, tricked again.)

A CRITIC AT LARGE
Are interest groups the essence of politics?
by Nicholas Lemann

Q. Do you agree that "public interest" is a myth? If so, what kind of "change" can we "hope" for in November?

ON TELEVISION
Q. What's the real value of "gap cable" programming? Is it good for all programming?

THE CURRENT CINEMA
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona;” “Elegy.”
by David Denby
Q. Just from Denby's reviews, are these comedies, dramas, both?