Search Results for: obama
This is the view from my hotel room the morning after I arrived. It’s been pretty gloomy since. Cloudy, rainy, windy:
I went downstairs to the lobby and here’s the first face that greeted me. I mean, is there no place one can go to anymore to get away from George W. Bush?
All the papers were covering the U.S. financial crisis and the federal bailout. It seemed to be one of only two things people were most eager to talk about upon finding out I had just arrived from the States. The other was Barack Obama.
I went to dinner with a few of the authors and organizers here at the festival and had a very interesting conversation with the Icelandic author Sjon. His latest novel, The Blue Fox, has been translated into English and is out with Telegram Books. He also happens to be an Oscar-nominated songwriter (for Dancer in the Dark.) We talked about Fes and its medina.
The next day I slept in late, to try to get over my cold, then went out briefly to stretch my legs. I ducked into the first bookstore I saw. Lots and lots of literature in translation, as you might expect in a country like Germany, which has such a strong tradition of translation.
And this is just before my reading, with Bernhard Robben, who translated my excerpt into German, and Floriane Danniel, the actress who read it for the audience. Bernhard is the German translator of many contemporary authors, including Ian McEwan and Martin Amis, and he also sometimes introduces authors at festivals.
I don’t even know what time it is now, so I probably should go off to bed. I’ll try to post more pictures soon.
Michael Chabon has an article in the most recent issue of The New York Review of Books about Barack Obama’s candidacy. This paragraph made me smile, which I really needed today, what with the news of bailouts and economic meltdowns and political stunts:
The problem was not Obama; the problem was that at the instant when Hillary Clinton at last conceded, the nature of the campaign changed. It was, I considered (…) like the change that might occur between the first and second volumes of some spectacular science fiction fantasy epic. At the end of the first volume, after bitter struggle, Obama had claimed the presumptive nomination. We Fremen had done the impossible, against Sardaukar and imperial shock troops alike. We had brought water to Arrakis. Now the gathered tribes of the Democratic Party—hacks, Teamsters, hat ladies, New Mexicans, residents of those states most nearly resembling Canada, Jews of South Florida, dreadlocks, crewcuts, elderlies and goths, a cowboy or two, sons and daughters of interned Japanese-Americans—had assembled on the plains of Denver to attempt to vanquish old Saruman McCain.
Here’s the article in full. Meanwhile, what does it say about our political culture that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the nut job head of state of Iran, can travel to New York, give an open press conference, and face reporters in unscripted questions, while Sarah Palin, the VP candidate, still hasn’t?
The New York Times Book Review asked a few poets and novelists which books they would recommend for the three presidential candidates. I think my favorite suggestions are those given by Lorrie Moore:
For Obama: “The Portrait of a Lady,” by Henry James. A virtuous orphan is plotted against by a charming, ruthless couple the orphan once trusted and admired.
For Clinton: “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare. The timeless tale of how untethered ambition and early predictions may carry a large price tag.
For McCain: “Tales From the Brothers Grimm.” In case more are needed.
Meanwhile, Gore Vidal contributes a typically Vidalian recommendation: “I can only answer in the negative: I want them not to read The New York Times, while subscribing to The Financial Times.”
On Saturday I had an op-ed in The Boston Globe about the politics of fear in the current presidential election. Here’s how it opens:
A FEW weeks ago, I received an e-mail with the subject line: “Excited about Barack Obama? Read this.”
The e-mail contained a copy of a Jan. 22 Senate memo, signed by the presidential candidate, in which he asked the American ambassador to the United Nations to “ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution” about the situation in Gaza unless it included a full condemnation of Hamas.
At the time the memo was sent, Gaza had been closed by Israeli forces for several days, its only power plant had ceased operating, and its 1.5 million Palestinian inhabitants had little or no access to food. The e-mail was sent to hundreds of Arab- and Muslim-Americans, and it ended with a bold, highlighted line: “Think again before you cast your vote for another AIPAC puppet,” referring to the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
You can read the rest of the piece here.
I received a copy of Start Making Sense a couple of weeks ago in the mail, and figured it would make for a nice giveaway. It’s an anthology of essays about how liberals can “turn the lessons of election 2004 into winning progressive politics.” Contributors include Howard Dean, Arianna Huffington, George Lakoff, Amy Goodman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Barack Obama, and Markos Moulitsakis Zuniga (a.k.a. Daily Kos).
You know the rules. First person to email me at llalami at yahoo dot com with the subject line “start making sense” will get a copy in the mail.
Update: The winner is Stephen S. from Los Angeles.