Tuesday's Literary Briefing

Robert McNamara passed yesterday.  It is quite telling of our society that his death will not receive the press coverage of a certain pedophile/pop star. But that’s probably for the better. In other diplomatic news, Obama is in Russia; perhaps he can pick up some avant-garde fakes while he’s in the country. There are an astounding number of them; ARTNews has the story.  Speaking of fake, The Globe explores hedonism in our family values-espousing leaders.  In other news, the impact of Orwell’s flaws is revisited, as is the approach to psychiatric treatment.  Google undertook a major book-scanning project, but now the DOJ is investigating.  Finally, in case you missed it, Philosophy and Literature blasted the Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing back in 1996.  Good day to you sirs…uh, madames…uh, people. — Andrew Geer

– If you’re reading this review, you probably live in the developed world with access to decent medical provision. So it stands to reason that, if you are unlucky enough to suffer an episode of psychosis, mania, or schizophrenia – and in Britain you have a three per cent lifetime risk of doing just that – your chances of recovery are better than they would be in Africa or India. Right? Wrong. — Psychiatric Drugs in The Telegraph

– There are plenty of people who cheat on their spouses, plenty of people who hire prostitutes. It’s hardly unheard of for an office to be plagued by a boss sending sexually explicit emails to underlings, even much younger ones, or for a man to solicit sex in a public restroom or to hire a male prostitute and then buy drugs from him. — Temptation in The Boston Globe

– An exhibition of 192 Russian avant-garde paintings was shut down abruptly in March, three days before its scheduled closing, when a well-known art expert claimed that 190 of the works were fake. The exhibition, in the Château Museum in Tours, France, was devoted to Aleksandra Ekster, a major figure of the avant-garde. A native of Ukraine, Ekster (or Exter) settled in France in 1924 and lived there until her death, in 1949. — Russian Fakes in ARTNews

– Yes, Orwell is still relevant. The particular manner in which he pierced worthless theory, faced facts and defended decency (with fluctuating success), and largely ignored the tradition of accumulated wisdom has rendered him a timeless teacher — one whose inadvertent lessons, while infrequently acknowledged, are just as valuable as his intended ones. — Orwell in Policy Review

– Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war’s moral consequences, died early Monday at his home in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing his wife, Diana. He was 93, and according to the news agency, had been in failing health for some time. — McNamara in The New York Times

– Google Inc.’s $125 million agreement to settle copyright issues with book publishers is being investigated by U.S. antitrust regulators. The issues raised by the settlement, which compensates copyright holders and gives Google a share of online book sales and ads, “warrant further inquiry.” — Google Books at Bloomberg

– There may be a need for an intelligent guide through the sex / race / ethnicity / disability / etc. minefields of current English usage. Unfortunately, it’s not Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing (Indiana University Press, $15.00 cloth, $5.95 paper), by Marilyn Schwartz and the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses.  — Editing in Philosophy and Literature