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Madness Is Contagious

Adrián Jiménez

Roberto Bolaño intended 2666 to be published in five parts. Against his wishes, however, all five have been combined into one whopper of a book where every character is in pursuit of something else, and death reeks throughout. Adrián Jiménez dissects the latest Bolaño masterpiece to be translated into English.

Music Builds Trust

William Harvey

Language, cultural biases, fear and other elements of society can become barriers to communication and problem solving. But one thing remains certain: across borders, be it political or cultural, music is universal. Here, William Harvey shares experiences of using music to build trust between cultures. In the process, his organization, Cultures in Harmony, lays one more stepping stone in the greater path to peace.

Canada's Prime Minister Goes Rogue

Erika Klein and Patrick Guyer

Global attention is focused on the Winter 2010 Olympics well underway in Vancouver, Canada, a city some 4,600 km distant from the capital, and that's just fine by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. With Parliament dismissed by the PM and legislative activity at a standstill, the action may be in Vancouver, but the real heat remains in Ottawa. The Mantle's blogger Erika Klein and contributor Patrick Guyer discuss this under-reported hijacking of democracy in O' Canada.

Witness to Genocide

Corrie Hulse

In spring 2005, the World Policy Journal was the first magazine to publish the photographs of former Marine Captain Brian Steidle. His undaunted efforts to bring global attention to the unfolding genocide in Darfur, Sudan, were then captured in The Devil Came on Horseback. Corrie Hulse reviews the moving documentary that pleads for the international community to take action in order to save the lives of those facing mass atrocities in war-torn Sudan.

Living in a Mother's Shadow

Katherine Chen

Behind every great man is a great woman, so the saying goes. Katherine Chen delves into J.M. Coetzee's memoir, Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life, to find the phrase also extends to elusive Nobel Prize winning authors.

Inkandescence

Shaun Randol

Vasily Kandinsky achieved the impossible. With careful refinement through a purposefully drawn-out, evolutionary process, the artist methodically developed a way to translate abstract conceptions onto the canvas. Music, the ultimate abstract art form, was his inspiration. In this essay, Shaun Randol reviews The Solomon R. Guggenheim's comprehensive, rich exhibition of Kandinsky's vision and breakthrough achievements.