Declarations of Independence  

What Are Intellectuals Good For? by George Scialabba Pressed Wafer, 2009, 252 pp., $15, paper I made my first acquaintance with George Scialabba’s work under unfortunate circumstances. It was the fall of 1995, and a colleague e-mailed me to complain …





Citizenship and Disability  

In the six years since I published a book about my son Jamie, Life As We Know It, a great deal has changed in Jamie’s life-starting with his realization that there is a book about him. When I completed the …



Great Books and Good Intentions  

Someone at Columbia University owes David Denby an honorary degree. As matters now stand, he’s already received a B.A. from Columbia College, where, in 1961, he began his undergraduate career by taking Columbia’s pair of required courses in Western literature …