Charlotte, Editor-in-Chief: “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper ’91 and Alex Thompson
I’m reading “Original Sin,” the new book about how top Democrats covered up President Biden’s decline. The New York Times has already put out a Book Review article on it and, two days ago, an Ezra Klein interview. So I’m seeing what all the fuss is about. It’s good so far. I’m still not done with “Anna Karenina.”
Varun, News Exec: “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
My grandfather — who used to make me practice sitting still — has always been better at living in the present moment than I am. Somewhat ironically, it was a couple of weeks before I recently got around to reading the 1838 poem he recommended, which consists of all of 211 words.
In “A Psalm of Life,” Longfellow urges a life of action that rejects the inevitability of death. My favorite verse reads, “Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! / Let the dead Past bury its dead! / Act, — act in the living Present! / Heart within, and God o’erhead!” I can’t speak for anyone else, but the poem has been a welcome reminder to me to sit still — metaphorically, because that’s not quite an option at Dartmouth — have a little faith, and exist in the present. Thanks Ajoba.
Emma, News Exec: “Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe
My next read is Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain.” I loved the depth and precision of his investigative work in “Say Nothing,” where he unraveled a chilling portrait of secrecy, ideology and the human cost of The Troubles. With “Empire of Pain,” he turns the same relentless scrutiny towards the Sackler dynasty — the family who created and marketed Oxycontin, the drug largely responsible for the opioid crisis.
Kent, Production Exec: “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones
I recently found this novel in the new books section of the library. It’s by an author who I had been wanting to read for a while. Set in Montana around the turn of the century, as the buffalo are disappearing off the plains, the novel follows a Blackfeet Indian looking for revenge. It’s a historical mystery with a major supernatural twist, delivering chills while sending up stereotypes along the way.
Eli, Opinion Editor: “Breakfast of Champions” by Kurt Vonnegut
I started this at the beginning of the term and it's been sitting on my window ledge half finished, for no reason other than a lack of time. I picked this book up off the side of the street in a pile with a “free” sign on it, and it felt like winning the lottery because Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors. This book has not been disappointing. It has illustrations mixed in. At first, I didn’t know if I would like this, but it is a great extension of Vonnegut’s humor. One of my favorite portions of the book was actually the prologue – it is written in the first person, and includes several succinct but devastatingly beautiful reflections on the absurdity of the human condition.
Ramsey, Opinion Editor: Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman by Marjorie Shostak
I was lying next to a bookshelf on the floor of the North Mass basement, waiting for a friend, when I happened to notice a book I had read about while studying for the LSAT — “Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman.” I flipped through it, thinking back to that one annoying question I had gotten wrong on that passage, and was thoroughly disturbed by the chapter “Discovering Sex.” The childhood of !Kung women with brothers is something I don’t ever want to experience.
