Thursday, February 22, 2007

A poem about what is (or might be) on our minds

Poetry isn't really my thing, but as I read through last Sunday's New York Times Book Review I couldn't help but be stunned by the subtitles (what I call "post colonics") of the books listed in the Table of Contents. So here it is. My apologies to all poets.

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Post colonics: A poem about what is on our minds

In Search of the First American Explorer
A Love Story
An American’s Encounter with France, Her Father, and the Holocaust
How Cops, Crooks, and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction
Essays
Our Part in the Creation of the Universe
My Story of Growing up in America
The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times
to the Present
Bisexual Politics
Plunder, Racial Politics, and the Nazi Welfare State
Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History
How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate national Security Threats and Why
We Believe Them
Oxford Lectures
Why we must Embrace China as a Partner or Face it as an Enemy
The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz


So what for philanthropy? Well, other than my confidence that I won't be honored by the Ruth Lilly prize for poetry, I just think this little, odd look at book titles might say something about what is on our minds. There's a whole lot of nationalism on the list, among other things. Anyone else want to offer up some observations?

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