Random items

Check out this literary map of San Francisco. It consists of thirty-ish quotes from literary fiction about San Francisco. Where possible, it even sites the quotes in the appropriate locale. Pretty cool.

So I am reading the massive From Colony to Superpower, the only thematic book in the Oxford History of the United States. I am quite enjoying it and anyone who wants to look at the grand sweep of American foreign policy would do well to read the book. I am up to 1898 or so and I was a bit surprised to see that the author refers to War of 1898 saying that it was once called the Spanish-American War. When did this name change happen?

Nina Siegel has a lengthy essay on the bestseller lists and what it says about literacy in America. She brings in arguments from Chabon and Franzen about how people might start reading decent books again, instead of 17 new books from James Patterson.

The New York Times reviews a great looking book about Paul Nitze and George Kennan called the Hawk and the Dove. The title simplifies their viewpoints, but these two men are central to the Cold War and international relations.