CRITICAL LINKING: February 9, 2012

“Flipping through these cumulative pages, a historian could assemble a pretty accurate picture of our life over the past 20 years. And not just the milestones, but the workaday realities of family life. The stained pages of our recipe books reflect our favourite meals. That dog-eared guide to childhood illnesses got us through many sleepless nights.”

These book things matter.

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“But nothing quite beats the experience of hovering, mothlike, around the literature section, picking up and glancing at pages randomly, deciding to try a book because you like its cover or its opening lines or what Wally Lamb had to say about it.”

It is damn inefficient, but the serendipity of browsing does not seem engineerable.

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“We recognize the decision to disallow same-sex entries is highly charged. We also opted not to accept YA entries. We do not condone discrimination against individuals of any sort.”

What a strage inclusion, that second sentence.

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“The suspect Mr. Zeitoun enter the residence at [redacted] and began to argue with the victim Mrs. Zeitoun. After a short period the argument escalated and Mr. Zeitoun pushed Mrs. Zeitoun down to the floor, mounted her and began to strike her with a closed fist to the head.”

God, I hate to read that. I can’t imagine how Dave Eggers feels. Do you think betrayed is too strong?

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“…watching a single episode of the British TV series Downton Abbey is the cultural and educational equivalent of reading an entire book.”

The Onion, nailing it.