Features
Overinformed: Confessions of an information junkie
In Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut (1997) David Shenk tells of “technostress” researcher Philip Nicholson’s practice of asking his audiences, “Pretend that you were forced to make a choice between giving up one of your fingers and giving up use of your computer for the rest of your life. Which would you choose?” Nicholson reports that one-third of the people surveyed chose to give up a finger.
Delusions
Dancer in the Dark (2000), directed by Lars von Trier
Nurse Betty (2000), directed by Neil LaBute
Dancer in the Dark is the most aesthetically brilliant film of the year, and it contains an unnerving naturalistic performance by Icelandic vocalist Bjork. But the film is spoiled by director and screenwriter Lars von Trier's need for a protracted soap-opera catastrophe.
Books
Marriage today: Sacramental or utilitarian?
Forming a family: Are all kinds of families equally good?
The children’s view: The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce.By Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis and Sandra Blakeslee. Hyperion, 316 pp., $24.95.
Faith-based schools