Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
What began as a bold experiment in grassroots service produced future ambassadors to help guide U.S. diplomacy through seven decades of global upheaval.
Read, Listen, Watch
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Of all the Christmas albums out there, my favorite by far is the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. And of all the attempts to push back on the commercialization of Christmas, my favorite comes from Linus. While the other kids seem to have all the moral fiber of a Fox News host, young…
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Important for boys: Digging up the backyard to make a pond, building makeshift shelters out of branches, then hiding inside to spot the wildlife attracted to the pond. Not important for boys: Punctuation. Or did the publisher assume that some kid’s sister would get ahold of The Boy’s Book of Adventure and refuse to let…
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The law that guarantees the right to bear arms pegs that right to a well regulated Militia. Patchworks AMERICA’S NEXT GUN MASSACRE IS INEVITABLE. Unless one government intern can make a miracle of his odd jobs in Washington, DC. Gabriel Dunne’s federal internship has him tracking gun violence in America. But before he can start, his…
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The gun lobby conveniently forgets a key aspect of the law that grants the right to arms. Congress need not be so forgetful. Neither should we, who elect them. Every November ask: Which side do you stand on protecting the nation from flying bullets? –
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Working on a promotional series for Patchworks. This one takes up the refrain from Everytown for Gun Safety. It’s a good refrain. Not one more.
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In preparation for travel to Paris this week I found myself cracking open the last of my black Moleskin Cahier 5×8.25″ notebooks. Normally this brings satisfaction as I add yet another 80 bound pages of journaling to what has become 40+ such notebooks over the last dozen years. With departure impending, however, I felt more…
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This piece in the Post has me thinking about the Second Amendment. A corollary argument is unlikely to convince pro-gun extremists. But it should. They will one day wake up to find all their rights revoked if they refuse to allow reasonable limits to the size, shape, and scope of their arsenals. (I’m satisfied with…
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How’s that grab you, Mr. Probably-Isn’t-Good-Enough?
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The next-to-last time I saw Mohamed—11:15, Dec 6, 2004—a blast-resistant window separated me from the Afghan businessman with good English, admiration for the U.S., and a carpet enterprise in Virginia. The last applicant of the morning at our visa counter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Mohamed was alone in the waiting room when the high-low alarm began…
Ben East Books 