On Tuesday, Donald Rumsfeld—who, as defense secretary under George W. Bush, was a driving force behind the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—died. Major outlets wheeled out pre-written obituaries. The AP’s, by Robert Burns, bordered on hagiography. Its headline initially declared Rumsfeld “a cunning leader undermined by Iraq war”; that language was later changed to “cunning leader who oversaw a ruinous Iraq war,” but the opening paragraph still says that “try as he might,” Rumsfeld “could not outmaneuver the ruinous politics of the Iraq war,” as if he had been forced to play chess against a supercomputer. The Iraqi death toll from the war is not noted; the American death toll is—but not before Rumsfeld’s charitable work on behalf of veterans, his “accomplished” college wrestling career, and colleagues’ recollections of his smarts and patriotism. The first words of the article’s URL are “Chicago Bears,” a reference to the football team Rumsfeld supported as a kid. Because the AP is a wire service, the obituary was republished widely. Other prominent efforts were better, but did not adequately foreground the human cost of Rumsfeld’s military aggression: The New York Times addressed Iraq only after mentioning the records he broke as defense secretary (he was the youngest person in that post, under Gerald Ford, then the oldest, under Bush) and his reputation as a “combative infighter” who challenged “military orthodoxies.” The Washington Post described him as “controversial,” but... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-02 12:32:38 UTC ]
Solitary confinement is a form of torture that the prison system makes commonplace. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2022-06-26 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Arceneaux, an astronaut on SpaceX’s Inspiration4 last September, describes how having cancer as a child changed her faith and the rest of her life in ‘Wild Ride: A Memoir of IV Drips and Rocket Ships’ (Convergent, Sept. 6). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-06-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Kate Clanchy’s memoir about teaching won the Orwell prize. Then, a year later, it became the centre of a storm that would engulf the lives of the author, her critics and dozens of people in the book trade. So what happened?At the end of March, a book that had been condemned to die came back to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-06-18 08:00:13 UTC ]
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After publishing a tell-all memoir about her family’s struggles with undiagnosed mental illness, Lindsay Wong was surprised by their reaction when she moved back in with her parents during the pandemic. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2022-06-17 15:51:56 UTC ]
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Spiegel & Grau takes on actor Rob Delaney’s memoir about the death of his young son, Julia Fine sells a novel set in 18th-century Venice to Flatiron, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-06-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A memoir of Ativan withdrawal, a British Jamaican coming-of-age on the streets of Bristol, a tour of the sensory world of the animal kingdom, and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-16 09:00:27 UTC ]
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Ada Calhoun hoped to finish a biography of O’Hara once started by her father, the art critic Peter Schjeldahl. Instead, she wrote a searching memoir about creativity and family. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-15 02:06:51 UTC ]
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Book publishing startup Parea is using the DTC playbook to connect new authors to communities who will engage with their work. Every year, publishers release thousands of new titles, but the vast majority don’t turn a profit. M0st authors spend years working on a book, only to see it languish,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2022-06-14 09:00:06 UTC ]
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“In a perversion of all laws of the universe, I’m about to read my father a story before bedtime.” Séamas O’Reilly on reading his memoir to the man who taught him to love books (and skipping over the hardest bits). | Lit Hub Memoir Lousy at first impressions: When tomatoes made their debut in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-11 10:30:34 UTC ]
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In her memoir “Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me,” Ada Calhoun set out to write a poet’s biography and found a connection to her father instead. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-09 09:00:19 UTC ]
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The comedian’s memoir was funny. But when the new show based on it tries for something deeper, it sinks into bathos. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-08 02:00:06 UTC ]
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In the memoir “James Patterson by James Patterson,” the best-selling author opens up — kind of — about how he came to be such a force in the literary world. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-06 11:00:41 UTC ]
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The actress who became America’s sweetheart in “Dirty Dancing” explores how her looks -- and her alteration of them -- affected her career Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-05 17:44:52 UTC ]
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Charles McGrath’s “The Summer Friend” recounts happy days and the gut punch of an untimely death. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-04 09:00:03 UTC ]
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In "Mean Baby," "Cruel Intentions" star Selma Blair discusses the very long road to her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis with charm and candor. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-06-03 13:00:52 UTC ]
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The best audiobooks 2022 has to offer includes everything from memoir to literary fiction and even poetry. Find your next listen! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-05-31 10:39:00 UTC ]
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'Harvey Weinstein: My Story,' a memoir allegedly written by the convicted producer, went up for sale on Amazon on May 10 but was pulled Friday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-05-27 21:49:53 UTC ]
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“It is a fact that if you are looking to raise llamas with another person, you are seriously considering a lifelong commitment to each other.” Aileen Weintraub on finding love in upstate New York. | Lit Hub Memoir When everyone in London was trying to learn Marilyn Monroe’s signature, sultry... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-27 10:30:44 UTC ]
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An 18-year-old student and a 98-year-old survivor teamed up to write “Lily’s Promise,” a best-selling memoir of Auschwitz and its aftermath. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-26 09:00:09 UTC ]
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This New York City Children’s Theater adaptation of Maya Angelou’s celebrated memoir faces the challenge of faithfully telling a story that encompasses a great deal of pain. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-25 20:59:11 UTC ]
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