From The Nation, a review of The Blue Hour: A Life of Jean Rhys by Lilian Pizzichini (and more at Bookforum). From The New Criterion, the sovereign ghost of Wallace Stevens: William Logan on the poet's place in the American pantheon. Where the Wild Things Weren’t: Maurice Sendak’s classic may be one of those books that are appreciated more in theory, or by adults, than by actual kids. One of the least coveted prizes in literature is the "Bad Sex" award in fiction; if Electric Feather: The Tranquebar Book of Erotic Stories finds a British publisher, Indians will have another shot at that prize (and here are 5 steps to writing successful erotic fiction). With sci-fi filling up every corner of cinema and TV and mainstream literature borrowing its ideas freely, where next for the literary tradition that started the cultural phenomenon? More on Selina Hastings's The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. From TNR, a review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. More and more on A New Literary History of America by Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors. From n+1, Marco Roth on the rise of the neuronovel. From Vanity Fair, in a previously unpublished short story by Kurt Vonnegut, the small town of Crocker’s Falls is turned upside down by a revealing roman a clef. From TLS, a review of Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead by Paula Byrne. A review of Ulysses and Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce’s Masterpiece by Declan Kiberd. From Harper's, why should we look for comfort in poetry? A review of Why Poetry Matters by Jay Parini. A review of The Unraveling Archive: Essays on Sylvia Plath.

An invitation to the many worlds of childhood: The introduction to The Child. Parenting for smarties: A review of NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (and more and more and more). Good luck raising that gender-neutral child: An interview with Lise Eliot, author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps — and What We Can Do About It (and more). A review of Partnership Parenting: How Men and Women Parent Differently by Kyle Pruett and Marsha Kline Pruett. Married writers Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman publish revealing accounts of parenthood. Freestyle fatherhood: An interview with Simon Carr, author of The Boys Are Back. Emily Bazelon writes in defense of the play date: They don't have to be occasions for mothers to silently judge one another. Whose kids are healthier?: A British study says children of working moms don't eat as well as kids whose mothers stay home. Patricia Busa McConnico on overscheduled children. Lara Vanderkam on the myth of the overscheduled child. A review of Let Kids Be Kids: Rescuing Childhood by Mary Muscari. How do parents and teachers instill the proper level of guilt in a child? A look at how universal concerns, not cultural values, may shape kids’ developing notions of right and wrong. The defiant ones: In today’s picture books, the kids are in charge. Are your kids watching enough TV? How the self-esteem generation is raising its children by looking in the mirror. A review of How to Ditch Your Allowance and Be Richer Than Your Parents! by Patti Handy. Not doing it for the kids: The child-free life can be great — why is it almost always presented as second-best, cold and empty?

Just how relevant is political science? Even critics of Sen. Tom Coburn’s proposal acknowledge that political scientists themselves vigorously debate the field’s direction. The crisis of public management: Jeffrey Sachs on the failing U.S. government and why nothing less than an overhaul of the systems that implement federal policies will suffice. Against transparency: Lawrence Lessig on the perils of openness in government (and more). Thomas Frank on the "predator state": It is corporate power, not the government, that we need to worry about. From ex-lobbyist to market watchdog: Why is an ex-lobbyist for an Enron-like firm that manipulated energy prices in line to be a top regulator? Spectacular sellout: As a politician, Dick Gephardt was a champion of progressive reform — now he lobbies for its enemies. From Supreme Allied Commander to ethanol front man: A look at the strange journey of Wesley Clark. Eliot Spitzer on why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce must be stopped — here's how to do it (and more). James Surowiecki on how climate change is shaking up business lobbying. The new progressive CEOs: In a recession, there are few global-warming-denying libertarians in the boardroom. The Obama Recession: When do we stop blaming Bush for the bad economy? Conservatives claim the stimulus has already failed, but it has barely started. Desperate Times: How to stimulate the economy without passing another stimulus. We can afford a second stimulus: As long as unemployment remains high, and interest rates are at rock-bottom lows, the prudent thing for government to do is keep on spending.

From Esquire, a radical solution to end the drug war: Legalize everything. How did New York City become the pot-arrest capital of the country? Get stoked: the MSM are acting less childish about pot. A review of The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over the World by Tom Feiling. From the Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, Jennifer Cobbina (UMSL): Race and Class Differences in Print Media Portrayals of Crack Cocaine and Methamphetamine; a review of Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics by Matthew Robinson and Renee Scherlen; and an article on The Absence of Gay and Lesbian Police Officer Depictions in the First Three Decades of the Core Cop Film Genre. The first chapter from Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District by Peter Moskos. Michael Bond on why cops should trust the wisdom of the crowds. The first chapter from When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment by Mark A. R. Kleiman (and a review). Steve Salerno on the flaws and fallacies of the American justice system. Eyewitness testimony is both fallible and irreplaceable — how can we know when to trust it? From Monthly Review, a look at how the role of penal state spending is crucial to understanding the developing crisis of U.S. class society. One in 35 Americans are caught up in the corrections system and incarceration is on the rise — why is this when the crime rate has dropped so remarkably? An interview with Diego Gambetta, author of Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate. Why would criminals withhold details of their crimes, and can they be made to reveal all?