Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Scenes from the diplomatic life, worthy of Lawrence Durrell. Embassies, like ships, have their barnacles: The local bores, gatecrashers, frauds and eccentrics "who attach themselves to the Corps and intend to stay firmly attached"
In which the author manages a brothel in the nation's capital for a few weeks until fired for alcoholism. The money isn't much good. But the work is varied, the people interesting and the fund of filthy stories incomparable
Interview. Not burglar, but locksmith. "Usually the victims are children or seniors. Grandpa is busy examining the contents of his safe deposit box at closing time when a bank employee performs the vault-closing procedure"
The workplace is beset by "managerialists". You know the type. They speak in jargon and don't understand what their staff do. Their internal communications are propaganda, "consultation" amounts to advance notice. And they bleed us
Former lap dancer speaks out against the industry she left. "Lap dancing is just an effect of a society that does not truly value women and, as hard as it may be to accept, a society in which women do not value themselves"
On life working as a fire dancer in northern England. The first show's on the pavement outside Klute, Europe's worst nightclub. Then on to Loveshack for round two. ("It’s more upmarket than Klute, but then so is syphilis")
Capable soldiers are ambitious, like people in any other profession. But army culture suppresses ambition, in favour of selflessness. Political culture treats ambitious generals as dangerous. We're wasting our best talent
Cartoonist sets up as professional "artisan pencil sharpener", charges $10-15 per pencil. Writes a book about it. Interview here reveals a mixture of satire, surrealism, performance art, self-promotion and deadpan seriousness
"We claim to believe that there is an objective method by which all right thinking people would, with sufficient diligence and intelligence, arrive at a good answer to any complex problem. But there is no such method"
Farming sounds fun until you try it. "Raccoons eat the corn, squash and tomatoes. Freezing rain take cares of everything else." But all is not lost. "I've formed an inviolate bond with the land. The bank calls it a mortgage"
If so, you'll need to show you can solve problems like these. Enjoyable selection, with answers provided. Here's one to get you started: "Using only a four-minute hourglass and seven-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes"
Final piece by State Dept whistleblower before he was fired. "We thought that our employers would be concerned about what we had stumbled upon and would want to work with us to resolve it. We are guilty of naiveté, not treason"
