From The Smart Set, Donald Barthelme's had his critics, but even his supporters can miss the mark (and more; and more from Bookforum). From Brainstorm, Kevin Carey on why college rankings will never die. Why small business hates the taxman — it’s actually NOT the money. Scribblers of America, Unite! Are women writers undervalued because of what they write or how we read? About face: People’s creditworthiness, it seems, can be seen in their looks. Evolutionary psychology applies the tenets of Darwinism to human thought and action, with major implications for public policy, but critics say it presents untestable, headline-grabbing myths as fact. A review of The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse by Richard Thompson Ford; Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal by Randall Kennedy; and A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win by Shelby Steele. A review of Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the American Civil War by Harry S. Stout. From Slate, why Obama won't bring European social democracy to America; and Daniel Gross on the bogus GOP claim that Obama is trying to bleed wealthy Americans.
