NYer Haiku: August 28, 2006

New Yorker Haiku

August 28, 2006

The Financial Page: Private Lies
By James Surowiecki

Management buyouts:
We'll tell you what firm's worth, then
Buy it from you. Cool?


Dept. of Human Resources: The Risk Pool
By Malcolm Gladwell

Pensions: credit cards
For firms. If/when business shrinks,
bills don't (default looms).


Backstage Chronicles: Petrified
By John Lahr

Actors need love too.
But will audience give it?
So begins stagefright.


Annals of Mathematics: Manifold Destiny
By Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber

Yao boasts: "My guys proved
Poincare's guess!" Perelman
Doesn't; but he did.


Fiction: "How Was It To Be Dead?"
By Richard Ford

"Dead" husband returns.
Current hubby wants the rule
"No take-backs." Not wife.


Books: Uppie Redux?
By David Denby

A modern lefty,
Sinclair was (mostly): smart, pure,
Naive, and ignored.


The Sky Line: Mile-High
By Paul Goldberger

Libeskind's arty
Art museum lacks good rooms
To put, you know, art.


The Art World: Going East
By Peter Schjeldahl

France (lost) in Egypt:
Old Salon art, at Dahesh,
Now seems relevant.


The Current Cinema: Borderlines
By Anthony Lane

Film on film ratings:
Tame stuff. "Factotum": potent
Take on writer-drunk.

New Yorker Haiku

Welcome to the haiku synopsis of The New Yorker. Like many people, I enjoy reading The New Yorker on a weekly basis, but often feel like it could be more concise. For example, Seymour Hersh's piece "Watching Lebanon" in the Aug. 21 issue was brilliant, original reporting on the thinking behind Israel's bombing campaign in Lebanon. I think we can all agree that it does no disservice to the importance of the article to observe that, at 5077 words, it was roughly 5060 words too long.

I hope to post these regularly. I'm still fiddling with formatting, and welcome suggestions. Preferably in haiku form.

August 21, 2006

Annals of National Security: Watching Lebanon
By Seymour M. Hersh

Israel provides
Great test for "bomb Iran" plan.
(Hmm, maybe needs work?)


The Sporting Scene: Blank Monday
By William Finnegan

Surfboard-core magnate
Quits, breaks his molds. Need a board?
Prepare for rough waves.


Letter From New Orleans: The Lost Year
By Dan Baum

Things are better now.
Before, waited for promised help;
Now, know not to wait.


Onward And Upward With The Arts: Measure for Measure
By Justin Davidson

Conducting's first rule:
Win hearts, earn respect, or else
Players will play you.


Fiction: The Spot
By David Means

End comes natural
From, to, those already dead
Lost in Michigan


The Current Cinema: On Duty
By David Denby

Even his critics
Agree: Stone's latest is good
For America.


Books: The philosopher Stoned
By Adam Kirsch

Walter Benjamin:
Stayed clear thinker on hashish,
Less so Marxism.


Dancing: World Stage
By Joan Acocella

Israeli dancers:
If they stop their po-mo stunts,
The terrorists win.


Musical Events: What Next?
By Alex Ross

New operas work
Where alluring music meets
Comfortless worldview.