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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Last spring we visited Key West. Of course we toured the Hemingway home. That was Vikram’s 9th birthday week. Being a natural reader, he couldn’t leave the premises without a book. What to buy? The novels and stories that introduced me to Hemingway — A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, the Nick Adams…
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If standing is obligatory, it is also meaningless. As a form of non-violent expression, taking a knee during the National Anthem epitomizes a fundamental principle in every fiber of the flag. Taking a knee honors, rather than dishonors, the Stars and Stripes. The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,…
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Yesterday several dozen white supremacists made national headlines for gathering in Charlottesville around the statue of secessionist leader Robert E. Lee. Local television footage shows the group chanting, among other things: Russia is our friend. Not a peep from the White House. The next day, professional football players took a knee during the National Anthem…
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The comments section of any article about sensible gun regulation reveals the infant-like imaginary world of the pro-gun argument. The most common, perhaps, is that ‘Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.’ But when was the last time you saw a murderer swing a People against a group of people, killing them? Should we also…
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Visit Michael Sahno’s website and take up his offer to receive his latest work, Rides from Strangers. He also reviews Patchworks, excerpted below: Patchworks: A Book Review by Michael Sahno | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles Today I woke to the all-too-familiar tragic news of yet another mass shooting. Sadly, we all know what will…
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Yesterday, a respectful silence. For the victims. For the families. For those traumatized anew by preventable violence. Today, rage. Rage, and an assertion: The collusion between congress and the NRA’s K St campaign threatens American freedom more than those other popular bogeymen of fascism: illegal immigration and foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. Government’s response to…
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Great stuff! In a few simple lines our craft is cast in opposing opposing lights: it is spiritual grandness and workaday labor. We are at once inspired and guided by “the invisible hand of the soul.” Yet who can deny that “Writing a novel is drudgery”? Yes & yes. More inspiration below. Dear Sugars, My…
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This blog opened four years ago with the following: I wish more people were reading books. Here’s what I’m reading: Heaven Is Coming Home, by David Suarez Gomez. That’s all I wrote. And I didn’t post again for months. I had a voracious appetite for reading and I was writing books, but they were years from…
Ben East Books 