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March 2, 2001

+ THIS WEEK ...

Last week we asked, If poets are the "unacknowledged legislators of the
world," what of journalists, in particular one Christopher Hitchens? This
week, in the latest installment of Atlantic Unbound's Soundings series, we
bring you the genuine article -- i.e., poetry -- in three side-by-side
readings of Andrew Marvell's seventeenth-century seduction poem, "To His
Coy Mistress," introduced in a brief essay by Linda Gregerson. Many have no
doubt read this anthology warhorse in high school or college English
classes ("Had we but world enough and time/ This coyness, Lady, were no
crime..." and so on). But we're willing to wager that you've never heard it
quite like this. The readers are three noted poets -- Gregerson, J. D.
McClatchy, and Heather McHugh -- each of whom knows how to perform a poem.
And Gregerson's introduction is a rare treat: a deviously smart, witty,
sexy, and original close analysis that you don't need a Ph.D. in English
literature to understand and enjoy. Imagine. No, don't imagine; see (and
hear) for yourself.

Also this week: the conclusion of Christopher Hitchens's exchange with
James Fallows, new recipes on Corby's Table, a bit of economic analysis
from Sage Stossel, and more.

Cheers,

Wen Stephenson
Editorial Director
The Atlantic Online

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+ In ATLANTIC UNBOUND, The Atlantic's online journal ...

Fallows@large
THE WORK OF WORDS [PART THREE]
Mar 1 |  "I am in the uncomfortable position," James Fallows writes to
Christopher Hitchens, "of holding a widely caricatured view, which I will
try to defend. Namely, that Clinton's actions in the past six weeks justify
a harsher view of him than his previous conduct did. The contrary case is,
'What took you so long?' In this analysis, Clinton is behaving no
differently now from the way he has over the past eight years. My case is:
the way Clinton behaved in his final weeks in office, above all with the
pardons, actually was different from his previous record." See Hitchens's
reply to Fallows in the concluding round of their exchange on writing,
politics, Henry Kissinger -- and Bill Clinton.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fallows/jf2001-02-21/fallows3.htm

Soundings
MARVELL'S "COY MISTRESS"
with Linda Gregerson, J. D. McClatchy, and Heather McHugh
Feb 26 | "Can this poem really be after what it purports to be after?"
Linda Gregerson asks in her introduction. "Can it, as a seduction poem, by
even the wildest stretch of imagination be designed to work? What kind of
woman would be successfully wooed like this?" Poets McClatchy and McHugh
join Gregerson as each gives voice to Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy
Mistress."
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/poetry/soundings/marvell.htm

Corby's Table
ISRAEL ON A BUN
by Corby Kummer
Feb 28 | " 'Why can't a country with two and a half million Jewish mothers
have better food?' Henry Kissinger supposedly moaned while conducting
shuttle diplomacy in the 1970s. Even today Israel isn't known for the
quality or variety of its restaurants -- although Joan Nathan, an
indefatigable expert on Jewish food and the author of monumental and
authoritative books on the subject, says that things have changed
enormously since the days when she lived there, in the early 1970s." Corby
Kummer looks at Joan Nathan's new book, *The Foods of Israel Today*, and
offers his favorite selections.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/corby/ct2001-02.htm

Sage, Ink
FAITH-BASED ECONOMICS
Feb 28 | A cartoon by Sage Stossel.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/sage/ss2001-02-28.htm

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+ In D.C. DISPATCH | from National Journal

Social Studies
FORGET THE MARC RICH PARDON. WORRY ABOUT THE SCANDAL
by Jonathan Rauch
Mar 1 | In the Rich ruckus, what is taking place is an attack not just on a
pardon, but on the pardon power itself.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/rauch2001-03-01.htm

Legal Affairs
HOW THE MARC RICH PARDON COULD SPAWN A NEW PROSECUTION
by Stuart Taylor Jr.
Mar 1 | The prosecutors' most logical target is Rich, not Clinton. In
politics, it's more dangerous to give than to receive.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/taylor2001-03-01.htm

Political Pulse
WHY ALL THE SMILES ON THE RIGHT?
by William Schneider
Mar 1 | Interestingly, conservatives see George W. as far more of a Reagan
conservative than Daddy Bush.
was.http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/schneider2001-03-01.htm

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