November 1998
In This Issue
Douglas Brinkley, “In the Kerouac Archive”; Lawrence L. Langer, “Pre-empting the Holocaust”; Carol Kino, “Cutting-Edge but Comfy”; Margo Rabb, “My Mother's First Lover”; and much more.
Articles
Behind the Chrysanthemum Curtain
Japan's palace courtiers face big obstacles—in the form of tradition, politics, and their own code of behavior—as they struggle to create a modern role for the country's imperial family
In the Kerouac Archive
How did the novel On the Road evolve? What did Jack Kerouac hope the movie would be like? How did he view the advent of celebrity culture in America? A trove of unpublished writing by Kerouac will come into print during the next several years. We offer excerpts, together with commentary by Douglas Brinkley, the editor of these papers.
"Ready, Read!"
A new solution to the problem of failing public schools is emerging: takeover by outside authorities, who prescribe a standardized field-tested curriculum. This runs counter to our long-standing tradition of autonomy for local schools and teachers, but it works
Corn Bread When I'm Hungry
Dock Boggs and rock criticism
Richard Hofstadter's Tradition
Fifty years ago, amid trying personal circumstances, an audacious young historian wrote a book of lasting merit about American Presidents and their politics
Anticipation
The early bird pre-gets the worm
The Lovely, Lovely- 98.11
Anne, in her tenth decade
My Mother's First Lover
I ran the whole way, half a mile, the wet grass soaking through my pink ballet slippers. My mother, her back to me, was sitting quietly at the water's edge. A man sat beside her, his arm around her waist
Mid-Night
A Bird's-eye View of Nepal
In search of the scarlet minivet, the Himalayan griffon, the racket-tailed drongo, and a few hundred other ornithological species
Cutting-Edge but Comfy
Young London artists are attracting crowds -- not because of their flashy attention-seeking but because their art is understandable and unintimidating
77 North Washington Street
Letters
The Almanac
Word Court
