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 ]
Sisters confront racism with humor, a fantasy novelist delves into short stories, a military history expert salutes the civil rights movement, and a movie star's memoir goes behind the scenes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The late night host pointed out a hilarious irony in the new memoir by the former counselor to Trump. Continue reading at The Huffington Post
[ The Huffington Post | 2022-05-24 05:21:45 UTC ]
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“To live with other people is to be responsible for protecting them from your moods. Or perhaps, to protect the delicate gift of your moods from them.” Seema Reza on the joy of being (completely) alone. | Lit Hub Memoir Hilary A. Hallett investigates the romance genre’s radical roots, from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-21 10:30:28 UTC ]
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She was accused of ‘betraying motherhood’ when she was revealed as the author of the Guardian’s Living With Teenagers column. Will her novel about a child with addiction issues reopen old wounds?Few writers have published and been damned with quite the ferocity Julie Myerson was back in 2009 for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-21 08:00:14 UTC ]
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Being fired as an advertising executive freed him to write a blistering memoir about his Southern family and an erotic novel that became a best seller. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-21 00:03:50 UTC ]
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Donald Trump's former White House adviser admits in her new memoir that she had a hard time competing with her husband's "new fling." Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2022-05-19 20:47:28 UTC ]
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Shaina Loew-Banayan’s new book, “Elegy for an Appetite,” chronicles fifteen years of the author’s relationship to food, in an irreverent stream of consciousness. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2022-05-19 19:15:10 UTC ]
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More than a month after revealing the revamped version of PlayStation Plus, Sony has shared the initial lineup of games heading to its new service, covering everything from original PlayStation classics and PlayStation Portable titles to modern hits. The new PlayStation Plus has three tiers,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-05-19 18:45:16 UTC ]
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James Campbell’s memoir "Just Go Down to the Road" captures an era and how it shaped the author’s eventual literary career. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-18 12:00:46 UTC ]
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First, Mark Esper’s career got hijacked by Donald Trump. Now, his perfectly dull memoir has to deal with the guy too. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2022-05-17 09:40:00 UTC ]
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“Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling memoir that became a star-studded film, raised the profile of the onetime “Never Trump guy” who won an Ohio primary with the help of the former president. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-15 09:00:16 UTC ]
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In her memoir “Mean Baby,” the “Hellboy” actress opens up about her childhood and career and how she has coped with a variety of challenges Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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“I am drawn to the idea of continuing to bear witness to that horrible time,” says the actor, whose new book is “Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-12 15:13:09 UTC ]
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When I started reading Chloe Caldwell’s new book, The Red Zone, a memoir about identity, love, health, and pain, all told through the lens of her relationship to her period, I didn’t think I had period hang-ups of my own to work through. I do have pudendal neuralgia, a nerve pain condition that... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-12 11:05:00 UTC ]
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Surrender, which will ‘draw in detail’ what he had previously only sketched in songs, will contain 40 chapters, each named after a U2 song, and include 40 original drawings by the singerThe first memoir by Bono will be released this year, publisher Penguin Random House has announced.While the U2... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-10 15:24:58 UTC ]
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Look, The Joshua Tree was the first album I ever bought with my own money. I have a soft spot for U2, up to and including Achtung Baby (I guess). And I suppose a memoir by one of the biggest rock stars of a generation is to be expected, particularly one who’s assumed an often […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-10 13:35:33 UTC ]
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The DJ and writer on coming to terms with being a novelist, the appeal of middle-aged men and the book that broke her heartRadio 2 DJ Sara Cox has come a long way since the 1990s when Channel 4’s The Girlie Show made her one of the original ladettes. In 2019, her memoir Till the Cows Come Home:... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-05-07 17:00:05 UTC ]
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Lost in the subject matter: Gerald Murnane rereads his first novel, Tamarisk Road, nearly 50 years later. | Lit Hub Why Twitter loves James Baldwin (and whether that’s a good thing). | Lit Hub A quiet reply to a life cut short: Elisha Cooper on coming to terms with what killed his brother. | Lit... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-07 10:30:22 UTC ]
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Viola Davis has the #1 book in the country with the memoir 'Finding Me.' Plus Don Winslow's 'City on Fire' heats up our hardcover fiction list, and Alice Oseman's Heartstopper books get a boost from Netflix. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
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