oct 10 issue: Harvard, Capote, Ghosts

Gladwell on Harvard is great, fuckin' CRITICAL of what passes for an education in this day and age. Or in recent history. But the New Yorker attacking provincial WASP elitism? There's something inherantly contradictory about that. My only real argument with the piece - the article acknowledges that admissions are international, but seems to argue that Harvard is contributing to a primarily national definition and function of an elite. But this elite (and this definition of an elite) is definately an import-export commodity . . . Best line: Harvard worries about "a surfeit of 'pansies,' 'decadent esthetes' and 'precious sophisticates.'" Gosh, me too.

I think I may be agreeing with Denby yet again, on this Capote movie. Love Capote, love In Cold Blood, love all the sexual disfunction . . . can't wait. Also anticipate good things from Good Night and Good Luck.

Who is this Vince Aletti? He seems to know how to write, and to think about history and photography. I really wish I could see this exhibit, "The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult," "Photographs lie - they just can't help it." Nicely put. Could have used more images, there are a few here.



As for this odd coal mining article, my partner in crime is fascinated by the endless stream of non-signifying technical detail. It's like Pynchon, he says. Crazy, precious sophisticate.

Categories: film, newyorker, education, books