1. “The American Wanderer, in All His Stripes”
“‘You might say Americans are conflicted within themselves,’ said Andrew Delbanco, a professor of American studies at Columbia University. ‘There is a long and often sentimental tradition of celebrating the small town’ — Andy Griffith’s Mayberry — ‘as the right kind of place to grow up and become morally solid.’
“At the same time, Mr. Delbanco notes, there is ‘a no less strong tradition of regarding the small town as airless and imprisoning.’”
2. “Excerpts From the Spanish Diary”
“JULY 3: Scarlett came to me today with one of those questions actors ask, ‘What’s my motivation?’ I shot back, ‘Your salary.’ She said fine but that she needed a lot more motivation to continue. About triple. Otherwise she threatened to walk. I called her bluff and walked first. Then she walked. Now we were rather far apart and had to yell to be heard. Then she threatened to hop. I hopped too, and soon we were at an impasse. At the impasse I ran into friends, and we all drank, and of course I got stuck with the check.”
3. “Renting a Hybrid: With Supplies Tight, Prices Are High”
“As travelers continue to face sticker shock at the gas pump, more are turning to hybrid rental cars in search of savings. But with supply still limited and demand so high, these green cars are commanding a substantial premium.”
4. “That Student Loan, So Hard to Shake”
“Much less attention has been paid to what happens to students after they borrow. Lenders who make loans guaranteed by the federal government can more easily take steps against borrowers — like garnishing wages and benefits — than they can with other kinds of unsecured consumer debts. And all student loans, federally guaranteed or not, are extremely hard to get rid of in bankruptcy proceedings, more so than credit card or other debt.”
5. “The Murky Side of Movie Rights”
“That trick turns on a term of art: ‘changed elements.’ A producer of a movie acquired in turnaround who comes up with a new director, or star, or story line, or even a reduction in budget, must give the original studio another shot at making the movie because of changed elements, even if a new backer has entered the picture.”
6. “Connected, Yes, but Hermetically Sealed”
“The cellphone and the P.D.A. have basically replaced thought.”
“Behavioral economics, a new area of research combining economics and psychology, has repeatedly documented how our apparently free choices are affected by the way options are presented to us.”
