From TLS, a review of The Oxford Book of Parodies (and more); and a review of Teach Us to Sit Still: A Sceptic's Search for Health and Healing by Tim Parks. The magnetic appeal of a meaningful life: A sense one’s life has meaning increases one’s allure in social situations. A review of Cake: A Global History by Nicola Humble. From World Press Review, Joseph Kirschke on BP's Other Disaster (and part 2). An interview with Rosalind Cartwright, author of The Twenty-four Hour Mind: The Role of Sleep and Dreaming in Our Emotional Lives. The YIMBYS: Five places saying "yes, in my backyard" to the nasty stuff that no one else wants. A review of True Prep: It's A Whole New Old World by Lisa Birnbach. Atlas Obscura visits the unfinished Monument to Humanity for peace between Turkey and Armenia, long divided by a dispute over genocide. Gadget Lab looks at the secret histories of those @#$%ing computer symbols. In the wake of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Americans cried out for catharsis, and the 9/11 Commission delivered — what we are left with is an ill-conceived bureacracy in the guise of reform. Dying for fame: Acclaim after death may be the coldest of comfort. Even when foreign-language science fiction seems to cater for anglophone tastes, it seldom crosses borders — it may not suit everyone's palate, but what can it tell us about the state of the genre? A look at how books are losing out to the algorithms of love. Too many cheeses can drive society crackers: Slovenian scholar Renata Salecl tells Matthew Reisz about the paralysing effects of the Western ideology du jour, the "tyranny of choice".
