The Slate Diaries - Softcover

Had the sort of day that gives magazine writers the reputation--entirely deserved--for being lazy and overfed: Played with the kids in the backyard after breakfast, wrote at home till noon, had an enormous lunch at the Palm, returned a few calls, then sat around the office to gossip, telling stories, and trading theories about Clinton's sex life.

I have not seen Beauregard [his dog] in nine weeks, though I have been kept abreast of his bowel movements. I told Becky [his wife] yesterday in a way I missed Beauregard more than I missed her, because, after all, I got to talk to her on the phone every day and--well, I was trying to make the very interesting point that the bond between man and wife is essentially a higher meeting of the minds while the bond between man and dog is a more primal, physical one, but Becky didn't find this very interesting.

Let me assure you that I love my job. This is no mean feat given some of the drawbacks of academic life. Academic survival requires that you endure a Darwinian test that selects for a peculiar cocktail of masochism, sadism, perversity, and the ability to withstand large quantities of institutionalized torture over long periods of time with few measurable rewards.

Also, find out where Bill Gates says he "must have met more famous people in one place ... than anywhere I've been," what Karenna Gore Schiff (daughter of Al Gore) thinks of her Secret Service codename "Smurfette," and how federal judge Alex Kozinski handles writing a tricky dissenting opinion: "I really want to say that my colleagues are out to lunch, but in a way that won't tick them off." Other contributors include former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, film critic Roger Ebert, memoirist Dave Eggers, writer Malcolm Gladwell, author Michael Lewis, and novelist Cynthia Ozick. The Slate Diaries is a surprising, inspired, and wonderful anthology. --John J. Miller