Pia Nordlinger is a journalist who contributed to The Weekly Standard during its early years, writing on a range of cultural and political topics from 1997 to 1999. Her articles for the magazine covered subjects including the publishing industry, education policy, and the Clinton administration's intellectual circles.
THE CULTURAL LEFT IS TIRED of getting beat up for being anti-family. So, a small but influential number of academics, social critics, and policy types have come up with a new gambit: They are anti-marriage but pro-parenthood.
Weirton, West Virginia
THOSE WHO BELIEVE CLINTON is an innocent lamb also believe, with unwavering certainty, two "truths." The impeachment process is a subversion of the democratic process; and the vast right-wing conspiracy is behind it all.
Books used to be simple paper blocks that you could buy only at bookstores. Sometimes the store had what you wanted. Sometimes you had to wait. Maybe for one day. Maybe for ninety.
FORGET ARTIFICIAL SMILES AND SWIMSUITS: These days, the Miss America Pageant is all about "the issues." The annual televised glam-fest, aired this year on September 19, has become a bit more high-minded since 1989, when pageant organizers started requiring contestants to articulate a "platform"…
THIS FALL, 23 NEW EDISON SCHOOLS -- public schools managed by Christopher Whittle's Edison Project -- are opening around the country. This will nearly double the number of Edison schools in operation, and it will significantly increase the total number of public schools being run by for-profit…
Nick Hornby stopped in Washington, D.C., a few weeks back to read from his new novel, About a Boy. The bookstore was packed with enthusiastic fans, and I myself soon fell under the sway of his marvelously funny book. Yet as Hornby read, I became aware of another feeling, too -- a distance from his…
FEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS INSPIRE so much confidence as Arlington Traditional School. Parents praise this back-to-basics alternative school in Arlington, Va., for its early emphasis on reading and writing, its dress and behavior codes, and its expectation of parental involvement. Year after year,…
Just last year, the book industry in America was bracing for its demise. Bookstores were returning unsold copies in shockingly high numbers. Sales of " trade books" (the commercial titles that are normally the most secure portion of a publisher's catalogue) seemed to be dropping precipitously.
At the age of nine, the twentieth-century American sculptor Alexander Calder drew a self-portrait -- a picture of a boy working on a block of wood with a hacksaw, a broad smile of contentment on his face. Every artist produces art that expresses in one way or another his personality. What…
Town & Country, a glossy magazine for the well-heeled, touted a special feature in its January issue: "T&C's Guide to Civilized Divorce." Placed just before photos of society newlyweds in the monthly "Weddings" section, the guide highlights how to choose the right attorney, minimize costs, and…
Noel Riley Fitch