A Republic, if You Can Keep It.

It is said that Eisenhower once said that the omelet of democracy is made with the cracked heads of Nazis. [1] Given what happened in Europe after WWII, one can only think that's correct. So as we await the results of what our ethnographies-nationalists (with their, hopefully few, brethren in the police and FBI and National Guard and GOP helping them) will do in terms of violence, there are some other things we can do to bide our time.
First is read. I just cracked open Vanishing Half . And... well I'm not gonna lie I had my doubts. Many novels that make the list for the Times and other places reek of yeah it's good but it's mainly you picking something you think we should like. But this, my friends, is damn near perfection. The voice is uplifting and so damn intelligent and observant that I'm thinking she at least deserves A NOBEL LIT PRIZE. [2] You know? She'll get there. But check out the book. Brilliant stuff. Gonna make my best of the 21st century list, IMO (yeah, I have to give it some time to filter through of course). Hope to see more from her soon.

[1] Naw, don't look it up, it's better that way. *

[2] Well, picture the Nobel prize as Eastwood in Unforgiven and every great writer as the man he's about to shoot (whasisname?) saying "I don't deserve this" and the noble committee saying deserving has nothing to do with this. It doesn't: the dead people who never got it include Achebe and Borges and Baldwin and Maya Angelou (that alone should tell you what you need) and the live, older ones are Kincaid, Ngugi, Murakami (yeah even him). Like I said to someone when they wanted advice for how to win a Nobel: be white and be European. More Swedish winners of that prize than all of Asia. Does that make any sense? No. It's an insular prize and shall remain thus.
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