Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

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This week on nybooks.com: Woody Allen’s latest, women activists on the front lines in Turkey, getting smart about crime, Hezbollah’s refugee problem, what we’re losing as used-book stores disappear, Damascus on edge, a nightmare commune, and the American distrust of whistleblowers. Also listening to Tchaikovsky’s “wrong” note, arguing over Jesus, watching Netanyahu argue against himself, a plan for financial reform, and remembering Richard Nixon.
Watching Her Drown Francine Prose Cate Blanchett’s performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine is so riveting, and the film is so entertaining, that it took me until the day after I saw it to figure out why I’d found the film distasteful.
Turkey’s Women Strike Back Suzy Hansen Why have women been leading this summer's protests in Turkey? Despite the Erdoğan government’s reputation for innovative economic policies, the situation of women has lagged far behind international standards on almost every measure.
Getting Past ‘Tough on Crime’ David Cole Two recent events—Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech calling for measures to reduce overincarceration and racial disparities in our criminal justice system, and federal judge Shira Scheindlin’s opinion declaring “stop and frisk” unconstitutional—have led some to suggest that we are at a turning point in confronting the excesses and injustices of America’s criminal law. In fact, the turn began some years ago.
Hezbollah’s Refugee Problem Hugh Eakin On a hot afternoon in late July, Lebanese aid workers were handing out boxes of food to Syrian exiles: on the face of it, an unremarkable event. But I was in Hermel, a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley that has sent numerous young men to fight for the Syrian regime.					The Books We’ve Lost Charles Simic What made used-book stores, stocked with unwanted libraries of dead people, attractive to someone like me is that they were more indiscriminate and chaotic than public libraries and thus made browsing more of an adventure.
More on the NYRblog: Sarah Birke: Damascus: What’s Left: A sad return to the hollowed-out Syrian capital Mark Lilla: Tyrant of the Commune: The dark side of a seemingly idyllic Austrian commune  Eyal Press: Whistleblower, Leaker, Traitor, Spy: The American distrust of whistleblowers
					Tchaikovsky’s “Wrong” Note Kirill Gerstein Is the F in the opening of the slow movement of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto a mistake? Or is it a charming anomaly, an example of the lovely asymmetry that greatness often displays?
More in the NYRgallery: Caleb Crain: Almost History: Plzeň, May 1991: A liberation celebration, forty-six years post hoc Christopher Carroll: Arguing Over Jesus: The controversy over Reza Aslan’s Zealot in context Nathan Thrall: Netanyahu, Then and Now: Israel’s prime minister argues against himself
The Art of the Phony Charles Hope The existence of a market for any kind of valuable object almost always encourages the production of counterfeits. It happens with drugs, banknotes, and designer handbags. It also happens with works of art. It is often said that art forgery has existed as long as the demand for works of art, but this is not strictly true.				The Fed & Big Banking at the Crossroads Paul Volcker The erosion of confidence and trust in the financial world, in the financial authorities that oversee it, and in government generally is palpable. That can’t be healthy for markets or for the regulatory community. It surely can’t be healthy for the world’s greatest democracy, now challenged in its role of political and economic leadership. Instead of complaining, let’s do something about it.
Covering Nixon Thirty-nine years ago, Richard Nixon resigned as president, after a long effort to avoid impeachment on charges related to the Watergate scandal. A selection of work by Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, I.F. Stone, Garry Wills, Philip Roth, and Mary McCarthy on the Nixon presidency.