Academic Indigestion
A scholarly critic offers a caustic appraisal of higher education.
Briefly Noted
Jan|Feb 2009
City of Dreamers
Nathaniel Popkin C’91 GCP’95
National Insecurity
Alumnus Richard Clarke probably knows—and cares—more about national security than anyone alive, as he proved on 9/11 and afterwards. His latest book examines the government’s failures, offers remedies—and tells some stories.
Marketing the Macabre
From a vampire-slaying-sword auction to wine tastings with fans, Leslie Esdaile Banks W’80 has used her Wharton training (and an almost supernatural business sense) to promote her bestselling book series.
Talking Books and More—Online
Writers House offers online book groups
Heaven, Hell, and Hendecasyllables
A new biography sheds more light on Penn’s most famous and infamous poet—and his poetry.
Trying Evil
A new look at a sensational old murder.
Briefly Noted
Nov|Dec 2008
Living the Lesson
Taking his first live snap in the NFL, a rookie field-goal kicker—who also happens to be a 43-year-old sportswriter—learns about pressure.
The Revolution Will Not Be Canonized
Parsing the politics of—and against—modern American poetry.
The Autumn of the Matriarch
Mothers and daughters tangle and untangle in West Philadelphia.
Briefly Noted
Sep|Oct 2008
Briefly Noted
Jul|Aug 2008
Dark Passages
Inexhaustible horror. The Slave Ship
Just Six Words, So Many Stories
(Really) brief lives. Not Quite What I Was Planning
Briefly Noted
May|Jun 2008
Days of Dogfights and Hellcats
William E. Davis ME’42
When Death Looked Gigantically Down
The Civil War’s uncivil death.
Poor As Folk
Dialogue on poverty. The Souls of Poor Folk
Heat Waves and Camp Fire Girls
Three books about girls (and some boys) survey the perilous landscape of adolescence.
Briefly Noted
Mar|Apr 2008
Keeping Faith
Bloodied but unbowed by his stint as George W. Bush’s first “faith czar,” alumnus and political science professor John. J. DiIulio is more convinced than ever of America’s faith-based future—and he has a new book that tells why.
Ghost Landscapes
Arthur Drooker’s infrared photographs of historic ruins in the U.S. conjure a “spirit world of haunted beauty.”