Back then I didn’t know

that I would miss them so dearly

those women behind the counters

of accomplished age bathed

in Chanel and flaunting

their red French twists.

They had long, pale necks above

white, angora sweaters where

well-structured braziers held

each sharp breast separate,

rigid, and unyielding.

They wore black pencil skirts

just below their knees

and from there the seams

of their stockings drew

a perfectly straight line

to their black stiletto heels.

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Thank You For America!

Clichés are clichés for a reason, or so the adage goes. The same can be said for stereotypes. We hosted a foreign exchange student back in high school: you could’ve pulled him out of an 80’s movie. At 17 he had a full beard and his fondness for Poison, jeans and American flag jackets arrived straight from the mind of John Hughes. Regardless, understanding American boys is difficult, which is why so many scholarly investigations on the topic remain pertinent. See The Chronicle of Higher Education for details. Onward, we go from watching reality TV in a pharmacy to addressing Facebook’s friending phenomenon, and then to Joan Didion, whose work, depending on how you read it, either serves as one cliché after another or a matronly premonition for the young literati. Speaking of clichés, what does it take to write about writing from a foreign place? The Stranger surmises. Finally, authors writing essays is a regular happening — Zadie Smith explores why. Our judgment? Thumbs up! – Andrew Geer

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