It is in the nature of the New Yorker to be as topical as possible, on a level that is often small in scale and playful in intention.

It is in the nature of the New Yorker to be as topical as possible, on a level that is often small in scale and playful in intention.

I will try to cram these paragraphs full of facts and give them a weight and shape no greater than that of a cloud of blue butterflies.

Parody is homage gone sour.

The guns of the big events rumble through our pages, but the tiny firecrackers are constantly hissing and popping there as well; it appears that much of my life as a journalist has been devoted to sedulously setting off firecrackers.

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run.

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.