A COSMOPOLITAN LAWYER: JUST SOME READINGS I HAVE ENJOYED LATELY

First, this blog replaces my previous blog, thecosmoplitanlawyerblogspot.com . Second, unlike that earlier blog, the present one is primarily meant as a record of my readings. It is not meant to suggest that others will be or should be interested in what I read. And third, in a sense, it is a public diary of one who is an alien in his own American culture. A person who feels at home just about anywhere, except in his birthplace . . . America.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

STOP AND REALLY LOOK AROUND. REALLY!

Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (New York: Random House, 2012) (From the "Author's Note": "In the age of globalization--an ad hoc, temp-job, fiercely competitive age--hope is not a fiction. Extreme poverty is being alleviated gradually, unevenly, nonetheless significantly. But as capital rushes around the planet and the idea of permanent work becomes anachronistic, the unpredictability of daily life has a way of grinding down individual promise. Ideally, the government eases some of the instability. Too often, weal government intensifies it and proves better at nourishing corruption than human capacity." Id. at 253. Also see Panka Mishra, "Fighting for Scraps," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 2/2/2012).).