The paperback Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview and Other Conversations was an impulse buy at Target. (That’s redundant, I know.) What happened next was less predictable. As the youngish cashier scanned the book, she looked up and sighed, “He inspired…
Read More
“Lifestyle” and “self-help” books are a mixed bag. The best deserve to be read cover-to-cover. Alternately, for others the cover flap tells readers all they need to know (or not) about what’s inside. Then there’s the books that warrant consideration…
Read More
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it doesn’t matter.” -- Mark Twain If you’re one of those people who think aging does matter, and who doesn’t want to be too obvious about getting older,…
Read More
MAKE BELIEVE NEWS: BROOKLYN -- A 76-year-old Brooklyn native ignited a cultural firestorm by proclaiming, “I am not old.” The self-referential comment by Vernon Bakersfeld, made at a family gathering this past weekend, was recorded by several relatives whose Facebook…
Read More
“There are lies, damned lies and statistics,” Mark Twain famously warned. The misrepresentation of statistics is sport in American culture, most obviously and abusively in politics and advertising. Surprising, though, is the arbitrariness with which some statistics are misstated by…
Read More
There is no denying the influence of statistics, focus groups and polls on the American scene. They are the life blood of political operatives, corporate marketers, entertainment industry executives and special interest advocates, among others -- for better and worse.…
Read More
