November 2004 Archives
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Birnbaum v.
Lan Samantha Chang
All parents want their children to do well; not all parents want their children to become writers. Author Lan Samantha Chang chats with our man in Boston about her new novel that was 10 years in the writing, and her slide from upstanding daughter to rebel with a clause.
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Don't Be Rude
Couples Showers and Late Wedding Gifts
You’re asked to buy an expensive, ugly bridesmaid’s dress, but aren’t invited to the shower. You bought the wedding presents years ago; they’re just in your closet.
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Gallery
Camera Obscura
From photographer Abelardo Morell, a gallery of hauntingly beautiful pictures excerpted from his new book, where we discover how much of the world can fit through a pinhole.
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Reader Letters
Dear Diary
Dear editors, To Danny Gregory’s question (Can watercolors change how you perceive a killer?), I answer yes. Gregory’s drawings will most likely allow most viewers to perceive these...
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Roundtables
New Fathers, Round II
Twelve months ago a number of TMN contributors were becoming first-time dads—now it’s time to check in and see how they’re doing. A look back at a year of highs, lows, and Diaper Genies.
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The Non-Expert
Saying Grace
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we show how saying grace before a holiday meal doesn’t have to be a chore, and how if you know what to say, your thoughtful words may make the holidays more special. And then sometimes not.
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Gallery
Death Row Diaries, Part II
Can watercolors change how you perceive a killer? Do murderers have a harder time sitting for portraits?
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Letters From the Editor
You Should Not Reach ______
Over the sneeze guard, in line ahead of me, at the burrito place, to indicate you want salsa verde, after I saw you wipe your armpit Between the car seats,...
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New York, New York
Benchley Athletic
Ruts can happen to anyone, even 23-year-olds, and the best response is a brand-new gym membership—and a new girlfriend?
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Stories
The Six Wives of Henry LaGrange
Henry LaGrange has a very big problem. And when he isn’t struggling with his dissertation, bribing his thesis advisor, or marrying multiple women, his problem only gets bigger and bigger. Fiction by Tobias Seamon.
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The Education of Elisabeth Eckleman
Class Begins
Elisabeth Eckleman just left home, and has a lot of difficult decisions ahead of her. In this installment, Elisabeth makes a new friend and isn’t sure if she should bring her boyfriend material to a party. You decide what happens next.
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The Non-Expert
The Two-Week Guide to Thanksgiving
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, to help a young woman prepare her Thanksgiving, we assemble a day-by-day plan for cooking turkey for nine people and managing sibling relations, plus all the fixings.
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Opinions
What Would Teddy Do?
Last week Maine citizens voted on Question 2—whether or not to outlaw the “baiting, hounding, and trapping” of bears. So why didn’t such an apparently humane measure pass?
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Stories
Testimonial From a Moderately Satisfied Customer of Singles Canoes
Dating is impossible: Your friends have only so many friends to set you up with, co-workers are off-limits, and online services are icky and cold. Luckily singles can now turn to Singles Canoes, a new service we hadn’t heard of until BOB POWERS clued us in.
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The Guilfoile-Warner Papers
Obit.
In 2001 Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner lampooned the new president in their book, My First Presidentiary. Now, with the election behind us, they discuss Bush’s victory, what the Democrats have to do between now and 2008, and what we’re supposed to do with all this time on our hands.
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Gallery
Faces of the Marathon
More than 30,000 athletes celebrated the city this year by running the New York Marathon, covering five bridges, five boroughs, and 26.2 miles. Photographer Rion Nakaya brings us a gallery of portraits from the finish line.
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The Non-Expert
Roommate
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we show a reader how to get even the most troublesome of roommates to move out.
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Opinions
Ramadan and Firecrackers
What happens when a normally mad city decides to stop eating during daylight hours, stop smoking and drinking and sexing while it’s light out? A report from Cairo, a vibrant city alternately united and crazed by hunger.
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Gary Benchley, Rock Star
Schizopolis Resurgent
After a year of living in New York, you’ve acquired an apartment, a job, a rewarding hobby, and a meaningful, sexless relationship—all the tokens of an early middle age?
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Stories
The Plotlines Against America
Philip Roth’s bestselling new novel, The Plot Against America, depicts a U.S. that elects Charles Lindbergh over F.D.R. in the 1940 presidential election. Lindbergh’s documented anti-Semitic stance is put into action, and the book goes great distances to retain believability. How? As always—with top-notch editing. ANDREW WOMACK reports on a series of writer-editor correspondence.
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Opinions
Beyond Therapy
Which story is front-page material: Kerry’s tan, or his position on loose nukes? Bush’s plans for immigration reform, or a bulge in his jacket? By fluffing rumors and stuffing their shirts, the political media this election season has constantly failed the public.