April 29. Resonances: Contemporary Writers on the Classics
I had been looking forward to this panel not only because it included two of the contemporary American writers I most admire—Aleksandar Hemon and Yiyun Li—but also because I am always curious to see how writers talk about other writers. Having had my share of academia, I am familiar with how academics talk about writers—they usually use them as a springboard for some theoretical frame, as if the writer were a Procrustes and the “theory” an iron bed to which the size of the former must be adjusted by having his body stretched or shortened. Unfortunately,... |
I would be interested in reactions to the cover-article in today's (Sunday, July 13) New York Times Magazine entitled "Pill-Popping Pets" by James Vlahos, which you may find on the web at:
To summarize, pets now share the various phobias and neuroses that have become part of middle-class life, and they are being medicated accordingly, with Prozac and a vast range of anti-depressants and chemicals for behavior modification. As we already know, amenities now offered to pets, especially dogs, include jewelry, designer fashions, luxury hotels, plastic surgery, gourmet foods, spas, psychiatrists, and so on. I am seriously wondering if class could in many replace species as the major division among us. To put in another way, upper class dogs would move in circles with upper class women... |
