The New Yorker, July 26, 2010

Apparently, The New Yorker is slow in getting these to me, so much so that I received two issues in the same week. Oh, well. So, following the format I set here, I'll share with you my reading in this issue.

Articles
Talk of the Town
Comment: Borderlines, by William Finnegan (p. 19)
Postscript: Great-man Theory, by Ben McGrath (p. 21)

Shouts & Murmurs: Long, Hot Summer, by Tim Long (p. 31)
Letter from Chicago: What About Me? The United States of America v. Rod Blagojevich, by David Mendell (p. 40)
The Chicago article was interesting - I loved the opening scene with then state senator Obama talking about the governor's speech. It was a nice set-up for the whole piece, giving it a good context. I appreciate how the article also implied that Blagojevich is probably guilty, but that politicians had gotten themselves out of hotter water before. Frankly, I have not been following the trial, so it was nice to have a substantial update.

The Art World: The Road to Nice, by Peter Schjeldahl (p. 70)
Ok, to be honest, my eyes glaze over a bit at the mention of Matisse, Renoir and their fellow impressionists. I know Matisee does not fall into this category all the time, but in my mind, they are lumped in together. However, this article was nice as it talked about the tools of conservation - x-rays, reflectograms, and other cutting edge technologies. I look forward to talking with my conservator friend about the article (I wonder if he's seen the show...)

Books: Win or Lose, by Anthony Gottlieb (p. 73)
I was thinking about buying the book reviewed in this article until I read this quote:

Szipiro, who is more interested in math than in politics, says relatively little about how voting systems have played out in the real world.

Cartoons
Pp. 35, 51, 54, 59, 61, 65, 66

If you're a reader, what did you like in this issue?