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Jonathan Taylor writes:

Not long after waking up and learning that Herta Müller had won the Literature Nobel, I noticed in my Google Reader that Signandsight.com, hours before the announcement, had published a translation of a recent piece by her about the lingering power of Romania's former Securitate, from Germany's Die Zeit.

Suddenly I found my file, too, under the name of Cristina. Three volumes, 914 pages. It was allegedly opened on 8 March, 1983 - although it contains documents from earlier years. The reason given for opening the file: "Tendentious distortions of realities in the country, particularly in the village environment" in my book "Nadirs". Textual analysis by spies corroborate this. And the fact that I belong to a "circle of German-language poets", which is "renowned for its hostile works".

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Jonathan Taylor writes:

At Tuesday night's symposium on Ryszard Kapuściński and "The Art of Reportage" at NYU, Alastair Reid read from an address he said William Shawn had given in 1979 to The New Yorker's "business side," which Reid said might not previously have "seen light of day" outside the magazine. Describing what the magazine's editors looked for in a writer, Shawn cited the presence of "style"—a "literary quality," even amid the straightforwardness and simplicity demanded of factual reporting. "Writers who don't sound like nobody, and

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Jonathan Taylor writes:

On the afternoon of its demise, Adam Kuban at Serious Eats took a look at the first issue of Gourmet—January 1941. Here, last year, we noted the magazine's online archive of some of its once-regular cartoons: it's still there, for now.

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Martin Schneider writes:

Fun fact: in 1963, the year in which Season 3 occurs and in which Don and Betty Draper visit the Rome Hilton, The New Yorker ran a story by Harold Brodkey (a writer dear to Emily's heart) set in Rome!

It ran in the issue dated November 23, 1963, so the people who read it right after the issue hit the newsstand/mailbox (say, November 18?) were thinking about something completely different a few days later. Because of events that will surely be covered in Mad Men before this season is out.

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McCall_MuseumParking_9-28-09.JPG

Pollux writes:

A flying car soars across a street jam-packed with conveyances of every description. The flying car, an Aerocar NX 59711, heads towards the entrance of a large parking structure, safely flying over a powerful burst of steam that explodes from a carriage.

This is part of an attention-grabbing automotive scene that car enthusiast and regular cover artist Bruce McCall has created for the September 28, 2009 cover for The New Yorker, called "Museum Parking".

The cover is a car-lover's delight. Flying cars, also known as roadable aircraft, are a reality, and there are cars from every decade and vehicles from past centuries. McCall's proto-cars include horse-driven vehicles such as the chariot,

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