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(01/08/19 7:25am)
Italian writer Elena Ferrante’s operatic Neapolitan Quartet, a series that spans four volumes and six decades of friendship, traces the intertwined lives of characters Lila and Lenù. The series begins with Lenù and Lila’s childhood as they grow up in a poor Neapolitan neighborhood and traces their subsequent lives as wives, mothers and ultimately lonely old women. The quartet is a series of cyclical events encapsulated in a larger cyclical narrative structure. The first book of the series, entitled “My Brilliant Friend,” opens at the fourth book’s close. Rino, Lila’s son, telephones Lenù to tell her that his mother has gone missing. At the end of the final book, entitled “The Story of a Lost Child,” there is no answer as to where Lila has disappeared. However, Ferrante writes such a thorough description of Lila’s character and psyche throughout the series that, in the final book, it makes sense as to why she erased herself. It seems not to matter where she’s gone. Lila is mean, whip-smart and down-trodden — how could she not want to disappear, how could she not want to melt into what she calls the “dissolving boundaries” of her complicated world?
(10/18/18 6:05am)
Simultaneously making readers want to revel in the narrative as long as possible while also powering on to the end of the tangled story, “Providence,” by Caroline Kepnes is a novel about love and obsession, full of gripping emotional detail and a compelling New England narrative backdrop.
(09/20/18 6:05am)
“You can only actually help someone who wants to be helped.”
(09/14/18 6:10am)
Hilarious, thoughtful and unwavering, pop culture critic Michael Arceneaux’s memoir “I Can’t Date Jesus” tackles the awkward and sometimes painful realities of growing up over the course of 17 essays.
(03/06/18 5:13pm)
“How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective,” edited by Princeton University professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, takes on the task of commemorating the inimitable 1977 statement made by the Combahee River Collective, a group of radical Black feminists that emerged after America’s Civil Rights era. The collective’s letter, a political declaration, revolutionized the way radical political change is talked about to this very day. “How We Get Free” includes the infamous statement in its pages, offering readers the opportunity to engage with the group that has shaped our political world yet remains unknown to many.
(01/16/18 7:35am)
In 2017, writer and historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar published the biography “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit Of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.” Attempting to accomplish an ambitious feat, Dunbar imagines the life of Judge, a young woman who was enslaved by America’s first family but managed to escape from bondage. The book reconstructs the course that Judge took on her journey to freedom from enslavement in 1796. By harnessing her skill for research, Dunbar reconstructs Judge’s world, telling a story that has never been explored in such detail or with such tact. Through this biography, Dunbar also honors the life and humanity of a woman who was denied niceties at birth.
(11/10/17 5:00am)
An ode to former first lady Michelle Obama, “Courage is Contagious: And Other Reasons to be Thankful for Michelle Obama” takes on the task of memorializing and honoring the legacy of Obama as a cultural icon through a collection of written reflections. The book’s editor, Nick Haramis, compiled essays by actors, writers, fashion designers, activists, high schoolers and others in order to participate in the process of unpacking the Obama family’s legacy in America and the significance of Obama’s navigation of the first lady position.
(10/26/17 4:10am)
In one of my favorite memoirs, “Negroland,” acclaimed critic and professor Margo Jefferson offers an account of her life as a Southern upper middle-class Black woman in the 50s and 60s, reflecting on the confounding nature of racial categorization as a process which has saturated the lives of Black Americans. Jefferson asks a weighty question to the masses: “What manner of man and woman are we?” It is a query that has remained in my head since I finished reading her memoir. With this question, Jefferson addressed the ways in which the otherness imposed on Black Americans necessitated conflict by defining our existence as inherently divergent from the norm of humanity. In Toni Morrison’s newest novel, “The Origin of Others,” this question is asked and expanded to challenge the habit of “othering” altogether — taking history, psychology and literature to task in a way that uncovers the vast offerings of Morrison’s mind.
(04/28/17 4:00am)
“I Am Where I Come From: Native American College Students and Graduates Tell Their Life Stories,” edited by education professor emeritus Andrew Garrod, Native American studies professor Melanie Benson Taylor and Robert Kilkenny, executive director of the Alliance for Inclusion and Prevention, details the stories of 13 Native American students who currently attend or recently graduated from Dartmouth. Although the College was founded to educate Native Americans, Dartmouth took over two centuries to truly embrace this mission as an institution. The preface of “I Am Where I Come From” details how the administration recommitted to the College’s mission to educate the Native American community in 1970, creating the Native American program and building what today is a vibrant community of Native American scholars, especially through the creation of the Native American studies department in 1972. A few of these students agreed to share their experiences and life stories in “I Am Where I Come From,” which was published this month.
(02/15/17 5:11am)
It was quite the magical Big Weekend for 17W. Whether you had one too many (butter)beers or someone hit you with a Forgetfulness Charm (Obliviate!), there's a good chance you may not remember some of the questionable texts you sent. Luckily (or unluckily), Dartbeat has proven once again that the internet is forever and no Vanishing Charm can save you. Without further ado, we present: the best "Texts from Last Night" from Winter Carnival.
(02/02/17 7:25pm)
Recently inspired by Donald Trump’s use of ~alternative facts~, Dartbeat has compiled a list of alternative facts at Dartmouth. These are totally true, not at all false and completely factual statements about our magical life in warm, sunny Hanover. #fact
(01/18/17 12:37am)
There are a lot of things to love about Dartmouth: Winter Carnival, chicken bobs from the HOP, and FFB, to name a few, but not much can compare to everyone’s favorite GPA-saver. That’s right, it’s your favorite day of the term — the deadline to NRO a class! What could be more exciting than the opportunity to avoid all consequences for your mistakes? In the spirit of today, I figured I’d share some tips on how to apply NROs to areas outside of your transcript … because we all know that a “C” isn’t the only thing you’d like to pretend never happened.
(11/04/16 4:00am)
Jeremy Gavron’s memoir “A Woman on the Edge of Time” gives the reader deep insight into the inner psyche of both Gavron and his mother. Hannah Gavron committed suicide at 29-years-old despite living a relatively charmed life. Gavron explores the complex ups and downs of her story with startling intensity. As the writer searches for his mother’s motivation in instigating her own death, he also explores the implications that this knowledge has had on his past and will have on his future.
(10/20/16 1:13pm)
When Dartmouth decided to renovate Baker Tower, I doubt anyone considered the enormous problem it would cause: depriving us of a backdrop for those classic “I’m back!” or “Look, it’s autumn!” profile pictures. Without a photo of me at the one place that’s recognizably-Dartmouth, how am I supposed to subliminally let everyone back home know that I haven’t flunked out yet? Could there possibly be an alternative to the coveted shot in front of Baker Tower? Probably not. But, unless you’re up for posing in front of the library as it stands now and captioning the photo, “Yup, this actually is Dartmouth,” you’re going to have to look elsewhere.