Monthly Archives: February 2008

One-A-Day: Oona Strathern, A Brief History of the Future

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Historians divide themselves by areas and by periods of specialization, but also by the methodological focus of their scholarly work: social history, political history, economic history and so on. This isn’t just an abstract division: it defines the real-world allocation … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 6 Comments

Rules of the Game

Posted on February 6, 2008 by Timothy Burke

Quick: why did you object to the way the Florida recount was handled in 2000, if you did in fact object? Was it some of the Supreme Court justices seeming to contradict their own long-standing principles? Was it the chaos … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 21 Comments

One-A-Day: Norman Rush, Mating

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

This is an essay on Norman Rush’s Mating that I wrote up for the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors blog, Critical Mass.

Posted in Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | Comments Off on One-A-Day: Norman Rush, Mating

Barbarians at the Gate

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m not the only one to take note of the New York Times‘ baffling decision to review Lee Siegel’s new anti-Internet broadside not once, but twice. Both times, moreover, the assignment was given to reviewers who were clearly predisposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Books, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 5 Comments