Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Weekend reading on nybooks.com: Lara Goitein on training doctors, Daniel Mendelsohn on science-fiction narratives, Helen Epstein on US support for corruption in Africa, and Garry Wills on how Michelle Obama broke the rules of racial discourse. Plus two pieces for Memorial Day: James McPherson on death and the Civil War, and Maya Lin on making the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.   SPONSORED BY MIT PRESS JOURNALS

Training Young Doctors: The Current Crisis Lara Goitein Nearly anyone admitted to a teaching hospital can expect to be cared for by residents and fellows. Yet there has been little critical attention to the question of whether they are well trained and have the time to provide good care.   ADVERTISEMENT   The Robots Are Winning! Daniel Mendelsohn We have been dreaming of robots since Homer. In Book 18 of the Iliad, Achilles’ mother, the nymph Thetis, wants to order a new suit of armor for her son, and so she pays a visit to the blacksmith-god Hephaestus, whom she finds hard at work on a series of automata.   Who’s Afraid of African Democracy? Helen Epstein United States support of ugly regimes may ultimately undermine the very stability we are supposedly seeking. In many cases, austerity programs, intended to lead to more efficient government, instead encourage corruption.   ADVERTISEMENT   Michelle Obama Breaks the Rules Garry Wills In her commencement address at Tuskegee University, Michelle Obama actually said (what I bet the students already suspected) that she is black. How dare she? In her quiet way she was breaking the four rules of racial discourse the right wing now wants to enforce.   Dark Victories James M. McPherson Walking through the Civil War section of a National or Confederate military cemetery today and reading all of the stones marked “Unknown” gives one only a faint idea of the pain suffered by families who never saw the body of their soldier son or husband, never had an opportunity to say goodbye, could never visit his grave. (2008)   Making the Memorial Maya Lin I imagined taking a knife and cutting into the earth, opening it up, an initial violence and pain that in time would heal. The grass would grow back, but the initial cut would remain… The need for the names to be on the memorial would become the memorial; there was no need to embellish the design further. (2000)