Emdashes—Modern Times Between the Lines
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Best of the 02.02.09 Issue: Al Roosten and Army Cats
Filed under: Pick of the Issue Tagged: Adrian Tomine, art, Booker T. Washington, Caroline Kennedy, covers, illustration, Kelefa Sanneh, Larissa MacFarquhar, Laura Secor, Mohammed Tabibian
Martin Schneider writes:
This issue had Adrian Tomine's cover wryly commenting on the region's tough winter. (I'd like to say that this cover took me a while to get, because I wasted precious seconds looking for the Obama connection.) Candidates include Larissa MacFarquhar on Caroline Kennedy, Laura Secor on Mohammed Tabibian, and Kelefa Sanneh on Booker T. Washington. You guessed it—this post is not yet complete!
Martin Schneider adds: Having now looked at the issue more carefully, I'm going to single out Nancy Franklin's evocative roundup of the cable news coverage of the inauguration. It was funny (any sentence referencing Chris Matthews) and the ending had a nice jolt of earned profundity. Brava!
Comments
I’m partial to TOTT pieces, especially ones that show an affectionate, but unsentimental, eye (and an ear) for the significant in the quirky. Nick Paumgarten writes great TOTT stories. Mark Singer was one of the best at it. (Where is he now?) This week’s issue of the magazine contains two standout TOTT pieces: Lizzie Widdicombe’s “Step On It,†and Ben McGrath’s “Third String Rummy.†Either one is worthy to be this week’s POTI. But if I had to choose, I’d pick Widdicombe’s story because it truly is, to quote one of the story’s characters, “a fine Washington adventure.â€