Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sunday reading on nybooks.com: David Cole on those who enabled the US torture program,Andrew Delbanco on getting closer to the real Civil War, a poem by Jana Prikryl, and whatElizabeth Hardwick saw in Selma. Plus calendar highlights in film, art, discussion, and barbecue. THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS

Torture: No One Said No David Cole A largely overlooked trove of newly declassified documents provides dramatic new details about the direct involvement of senior Bush administration officials eager to enable the CIA’s abuses at every turn.   ADVERTISEMENT   The Civil War Convulsion Andrew Delbanco “The real war will never get in the books.” This may be the most famous sentence ever written about the Civil War, at least by a writer of literary consequence. But what kind of reality did Walt Whitman have in mind when he made that claim more than 130 years ago? And how well has the prediction held up?   Selma, Alabama: The Charms of Goodness Elizabeth Hardwick What a sad countryside it is, the home of the pain of the Confederacy, the birthplace of the White Citizens Council. The khaki-colored earth, the tense, threatening air, the vanquished feeding on their permanent Civil War—all of it brings to mind flamboyant images from Faulkner. (1965)   ADVERTISEMENT   Pillow Jana Prikryl How solitary and resolute you look in the morning. A stoic in your cotton sleeve. Do you dream of walking out rain or shine a truffle balanced on your sternum and overtaking me on the sidewalk? Or is that a smile…   FILM March 2–17: MoMA presents a major career retrospectiveof German filmmaker Wim Wenders   COOKERY March 21: In the 9th AnnualCassidy Park Cook-Off/BBQin Bogalusa, amateur chefs compete to cook the best wild game meat   DISCUSSION April 14: Renata Adlerdiscusses her career as a journalist and essayist and signs copies of her new book,After the Tall Timber: Collected Nonfiction   ART March 13: NYRB, the American Academy in Rome, and McKee Gallery celebrate the publication of Go Figure! New Perspectives on Guston