From TLS, the ultimate French intellectual: A review of Paul Valery by Michel Jarrety; a review of The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 1, 1929-1940; and what would Conor Cruise O'Brien, the prophetic analyst of Irish militancy, have made of recent events in Northern Ireland? The Czech novelist Milan Kundera is accused of informing on an anti-communist as a student; is there any truth in the charge? An excerpt from The Subversive Copy Editor Advice from Chicago (or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself) by Carol Fisher Saller. From OJR, a look at how the Web can help the WaPo (and other papers) write a new chapter about the world of books. Get off the bus: Amanda Michel on the future of pro-am journalism. America's Shame: When are we going to do something about global poverty? Peter Singer wants to know. Is pop culture bad? Queries like this tempt academics to make use of one of several ploys. A review of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America by Jeff Wiltse. Here are two excerpts from The Posthuman Dada Guide: tzara and lenin play chess by Andrei Codrescu. Agonies of the Twitterati: More on Elsewhere, U.S.A. by Dalton Conley (and more from Bookforum). If Harvard MBAs are all so clever, how come so many are now in disgrace?
