Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
Ben East’s nonfiction debut recounts how JFK’s bold experiment shaped diplomatic careers and influenced modern American diplomacy.
Read, Listen, Watch
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This is where it all ends. This is the opening lyric to the Cult’s 1989 album Sonic Temple. I remember it like it was yesterday. Standing in my dorm room, unwrapping it to the excitement of getting to hear something new, the first few guitar riffs unrolling to Ian Astbury announcing as much as singing […]…
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Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed the 800,000 federal workers threatened with the loss of a second paycheck this week, saying they represented a paltry “one third of a percent” of the U.S. GDP. Hmmm…. Recent studies show there are about 540 billionaires — people like Ross — in the United States. As a nation of 325…
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Like so many of their peers, my sons are obsessed by the Harry Potter books. No wonder, then, that while introducing them to Star Wars I came upon this happy epiphany. As I brought popcorn into the living room, I overheard one of them reading the Amazon plot pitch for The Empire Strikes Back as if it…
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Darth Vader’s taskmaster Admiral Piett, promoted under choking duress during the Star Wars Trilogy, bears an uncanny resemblance to a peculiar and unlikeable figure serving the current administration. See if you can tell them apart. That’s Piett in the Nazi-looking uniform. Miller, rhetoric notwithstanding, dresses a different part. But let’s go to the tapes. Here…
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Nope… Incredibly shrinking…
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Last week I took on the role of layout designer for a community literary magazine. It was a satisfying experience with a few lessons learned. The Job The challenge included formatting and organizing 120 pages of photos, art, poetry, and prose fiction and nonfiction between 50 and 1,500 words, in three languages and three different…
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Happy Publication Day to all the contributors at the American School of Bombay! Over 80 students, parents, teachers, and staff added their voice to the first issue of ASB Musings — a collection of reflections of the world through our eyes — to make it a spellbinding repository of poetry, short fiction, memoir, photographs, journalism, and…
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It’s our fourth week working for the Republic in exchange for no money. In these lean times ($0 income!) a few other jobs I can do for equal pay—but greater pleasure—have crossed my mind. These include: 10. Post reviews of my travels to TripAdvisor(dot)com 9. Polish tombstones at my local cemetery 8. Document…
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We call this project the Death Star. The Death Star is going up across from my flat. Just outside our bedroom window, as a matter of fact. Here’s an eyewitness account of how they build the Death Star: After fielding an unusual duty call at midnight last night, I returned to bed at 01:00, badly…
Ben East Books 