The most elite of the world’s white, male, under-60 novelists sometimes seem to ride together as if in a peloton, as if they were competitors in the Tour de France, coasting in and out of each other’s slipstreams. When one breaks from the pack while up in the mountains — witness Jonathan Franzen or the Norwegian Karl Ove Knausgaard — a target surfaces on his jersey. Sensing this ancient dynamic, Tom Wolfe once replied to an attack by Norman Mailer by commenting, “The lead dog is the one they always try to bite in the ass.” Mailer casually responded: “It doesn’t mean you’re the top dog just because your ass is bleeding.” Knausgaard’s new novel, the sixth and final book in his diaristic “My Struggle” series, is a gift to his detractors, those who have found the books to be solipsistic and overwrought. At nearly 1,200 earnest pages, Book Six is a life-drainer, so dense and so dull that time and light seem to … [Read more...] about At the Close of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle,’ a Magician Loses His Touch
Closings
For-Profit College Chain Closes, Shutting Out Nearly 20,000 Students
The for-profit college chain Education Corporation of America said this week that it would shut down nearly all of its schools, leaving almost 20,000 students with partially completed degrees and credits that many other schools will not accept. The company, based in Birmingham, Ala., operated more than 70 vocationally focused campuses nationwide before losing its accreditation on Tuesday. The chain’s programs included training for aspiring chefs, nurses and green-energy workers at schools including Brightwood College, Virginia College and the Golf Academy of America, which sold itself with the slogan “preparing students to win in the game and the business of golf.” The shutdown was the largest failure of a for-profit chain since 2016, when ITT Technical Institutes went bankrupt, and came after the college’s accreditor — itself a troubled organization that the United States Education Department had accused of oversight failures — notified the company … [Read more...] about For-Profit College Chain Closes, Shutting Out Nearly 20,000 Students
Unpaid Agents, Dark Visitor Centers, Closed Trails: Effects of the Shutdown Beginning
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. — The visitors’ centers at Rocky Mountain National Park were locked and dark on Saturday. Drivers breezed through gates without stopping at tollbooths to pay the park’s $25 entrance fee. And as adventurers switchbacked up the snowy roads toward the park’s sledding hills and backcountry ski terrain, they encountered a new sign: “ROAD CLOSED.” So began the opening hours of the latest shutdown for a federal government that has become familiar with furloughs, and a country that has almost come to shrug off stalemates and spending fights — at least at first. “It’s an annoyance, but you can work around it,” said Desmond Hadlum, who drove in with his wife, Ann, to go snowshoeing. They stopped a park ranger at the entrance gate to ask about the shutdown. “So far, so good,” the ranger replied. But the shutdown’s effects — especially visible on Saturday at closed or unstaffed … [Read more...] about Unpaid Agents, Dark Visitor Centers, Closed Trails: Effects of the Shutdown Beginning
Tiger Woods on track for 15th major, says close friend Notah Begay
(CNN)Tiger Woods may have to battle a bit harder for his next major victory but a 15th title is "not out of the realms of possibility," according to one of his best friends Notah Begay. The former world No. 1 ended the 2018 season on a high with victory in the Tour Championship at East Lake for his first win in five years after overcoming four back surgeries. Follow @cnnsport Woods, who will turn 43 on December 26, took his tally of PGA Tour wins to 80, two behind the all-time record of Sam Snead, but it is Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles that he has long coveted. Many thought his multiple back injuries had put paid to that, but Begay, Woods' college roommate at Stanford, says the pursuit of Nicklaus is back on the agenda. "I think now the first win is out of the way he is focused on getting off 14 [major wins] and on to 15," four-time PGA Tour winner Begay told CNN Sport. Read More "I do not think that's out of the realm of possibility." JUST WATCHED Tiger … [Read more...] about Tiger Woods on track for 15th major, says close friend Notah Begay
Dow’s worst week since 2008 financial crisis; Nasdaq closes in bear market
New York (CNN Business)The Dow just suffered its deepest weekly plunge since 2008 and the Nasdaq is officially in a bear market. The miserable performance reflects deepening fears on Wall Street of an economic slowdown and overly-aggressive Federal Reserve. See what's driving markets now Fear and Greed index The Dow Hot stocks and key movers Nasdaq Bonds The Dow closed 414 points, or 1.8%, lower on Friday. The Nasdaq plummeted 3%, closing in its first bear market since the Great Recession. And the S&P 500 shed 2.1%. Technology stocks fell Friday on continued negative sentiment about the US-China trade relationship, regulation and a general adversity to risk. Facebook (FB) slumped 6%, Apple (AAPL) declined 4%, Twitter (TWTR) lost 7% and Netflix (NFLX) fell 5%. For the week, the Dow lost 1,655 points, or 6.9%. That's the steepest weekly percentage loss since October 2008. The Nasdaq plunged 8.4% on the week, its worst since November 2008. And the S&P 500's … [Read more...] about Dow’s worst week since 2008 financial crisis; Nasdaq closes in bear market