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The More Nobel Prize
by Garrison Keillor, Salon
Book awards are about commerce and artistic corruption. Reading is about the intimate privilege of living more than one life.

A Life In Movies
by Carol Felsenthal, Chicago
The road to becoming the first film critic to win the Pultizer Prize and the first to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was paved with Ebert's hard work, his ability to write at typing speed, ad his unflagging optimism and cheer, even in the face of obstacles.

Fine Dining In The Sky
by Joe Sharkey, New York Times
Food served on airlines is steadily worsening or disappearing, but caterers on private jets are aiming high to satisfy elite appetites.

A Cross-Atlantic Cable
by Lynn Smith, Los Angeles Times
The accent is on experimentation as BBC America works to find its U.S. niche.

Waiting For Havana
by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, New York Times
Cuba, with its magnificent, unspoiled beauty, seduces in many ways. To American business executives, it is an untapped market of 12 million people eager for American goods. To American hoteliers and cruise ship executives, it represents a tantalizing glimpse of the future — of future — of future ports for their passengers, of future resorts for their customers. To American tourists, it represents the taste of a forbidden fruit — of a land that has been off limits since 1961. And they are all waiting for one thing they believe will all but certainly make their dreams come true: the end of Fidel Castro.

Can The Jews Save Christmas?
by Daniel Gross, Slate
Hanukkah is late this year. Will this help retailers?

They Shoot Helicopters, Don't They?
by Matt Welch, Reason
Houw journalists spread rumors during Katrina.

Could You Please Make Me A Shade Lighter?
by Alex Perry, Time
How Indians came to view fair skin as an ideal — and a business opportunity.

Peanuts In The Gallery
by Richard Corliss, Time
Comics, slowly becoming appreciated as literature, are being celebrated in museums too.

Upstart From Chinese Province Masters The Art Of TV Titillation
by David Barboza, New York Times
Here at the headquarters of Hunan TV, the station's producers say their formula for success is simple: create zany, off-beat and even risque entertainment programs in a country still dominated by bland and predictable state-run television programming.

For You, Half Price
by Gabriel Cohen, New York Times
Since the Brooklyn bridge was completed in 1883, the idea of illegally selling it has become the ultimate example of the power of persuasion. A good salesman could sell it, a great swindler would well it, and the perfect sucker would fall for the scam.

A Family Interrupted
by Matt Bai, Los Angeles Times
A writer asks his Japanese American in-laws about their experiences during World War II, long obscured with silence.

Dave Chappelle Is Alive And Well (And Playing Las Vegas)
by Dave Itzkoff, New York Times
Just six months ago, Mr. Chappelle seemed dangerously close to becoming a different kind of punch line — starring in the kind of spectacular career flameout normally reserved for philandering clergymen and disgraced politicians.

Bring Bridge Back To The table
by Sharon Osberg, New York Times
Bridge will never have the spectator appeal of games like poker. But it's worth trying to bring back some of the glory of bridge by getting young people engaged in the game.

All The Right Moves
by Jennifer Shahade, New York Times
How can chess save itself? No doublt it would make purists protest, but chess should steal a few moves from poker.

Our Jennifer Fixation
by Rebecca Traister, Salon
We've seen her laugh, we've seen her cry. We've seen her almost-exposed breast. Will we ever get enough of Jennifer Aniston?

Sex And Chess. Is She A Queen Or A Pawn?
by Dylan Loeb McClain, New York Times
While Vaness Reid is clearly no novice at the game of chess, she isn't exactly taking it by storm. She is ranked 47,694th among both men and women. But Ms Reid is arguably the top player in the world based on a more subjective criterion: her looks.

Mardi Gras To The Rescue? Doubts Grow.
by Jere Longman, New York Times
Mardi Gras has been plagued by harsh financial realities, indecision, lowered expectations and the possibility that this year's parade lineup could be absent some of its most popular krewes, or social clubs.

Average Joe
by Stephen Rodrick, New York
New York is suddenly brimming with Dunkin' Donuts stores. And with a Starbucks on every corner, a coffee class war is brewing.

Turning Academia Into A Cafeteria
by Russell Jacoby, Los Angeles Times
Offering students a buffet of bogus 'choices' only undermines intellectual integrity and corrodes academic freedom.

The Wrap Artist
by Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times
Diane Von Furstenberg's signature dress endures, just as she has.

This Time It's Personal
by Tom Shone, The Guardian
That old favorite, the horror movie, is back — with a vengeance. But what's driving films such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Flightplan to the top of the box office is a very modern fear: America's global war on terror.

A Bayou Thanksgiving, With The Queen Of Sheba
by Jere Longman, New York Times
There was never going to be a traditional Thanksgiving on Salt Bayou, not after Hurricane Katrina picked up Liz LaBue's house and pushed it across U.S. 11 as if it were a stalled car. But she lived a scapbook life. Always up for a party, Ms. LaBue orchestrated one on Thanksgiving.

Roam, Sweet Roam
by DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post
You see it on their faces as they sit in train station waiting rooms listening to the Richard Bray Orchestra, or as they stand in line looking up at blinking departure signs, or as they wait at the Greyhound station for a bus that may leave too early or arrive too late. Not so much worry or exhaustion, but anticipation of what the holidy will bring. What is on their minds?

Ten Commandments Of Restaurant Behavior
by Nancy Leson, Seattle Times
As a critic, I acknowledge that there are three sides to every story: the patron's, the restaurant's and the truth. But as a former waitress, I'm inclined to wag my finger at those who've taken the "hospitality business" hostage and beg: "Oh, behave!"

Kung Pao? No, Gong Bao, And Nix The Nuts
by Howard W. French, New York Times
Guizhou province in south-central China is the ancestral home of the dish, and one visit to Guixi, one of Guiyang's most famous restaurants, makes clear that where this popular concoction is concerned pronnciation was not the only thing lost in translation during its migration around the globe.

Native Foods Nourish Again
by Kim Severson, New York Times
As American Indians try to reverse decades of physical and cultural erosion, they are turning to the food that once sustained them, and finidng allies in the nation's culinary elite and marketing experts.

'Second Wives' Are Back
by Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
Mistresses are again a status symbol in China.

Nobody Bikes In L.A.
by Andy Bowers, Slate
But they'd be a lot of happier if they did.

Hung Up On Tentpoles, Studios Think Too Big
by Anne Thompson, Backstage
No studio is going to admit the obvious: They can't afford to make all their movies at top-tier prices.

An Anchor Who Carried Weight
by Tom Shales, Washington Post
In the 25-year history of "Nightline," millions tuned in not because Koppel seemed like the man who thought he knew everything but because he gave the impression of wanting to know everything.

In A Losing Race With The Zeitgeist
by Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
The era of moviegoing as a mass audience ritual is slowly but inexorably drawing to a close.

What If They Open This Hotel And Nobody Comes?
by Michael Slackman, New York Times
The bravest man in Syria these days may well be a mild-mannered hotel manager named Markus W. Iseli.

75-Year-Old Jewel Thief Looks Back
by Angie Wagner, Associated Press
Style and cunning allowed her to confuse store clerks.

Looking Abroad For A Few Good Teachers
by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates, Time
Foreign educators are filling a need in one city's classrooms — and getting a crash course in cultural diversity.

Puny Headline Score Can't Top Scrabble Kings
by Alan Cowell, New York Times
In the end, the zobo and the ogive could not quite triumph over theqanat and the euripi on Sunday, and thus the contender was brisled — Scottish dialect for scorched or toasted.

Brazil's First Black Television Channel Tackles Legacy Of 300 Years Of Slavery
by Tom Philips, The Guardian
With non-white faces a rarity in media and politics, a new station aims to bridge racial divide.

Rebirth Of The Phoenix
by Ylan Q. Mui, Washington Post
When the Vietnam War stripped them of everything, they found a way to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, they did in New Orleans.

What Do You Expect For $99.23 A Night?
by Manny Fernandez, New York Times
In the middle of Manhattan and at the neon-bright Crossroads of hte World, the hotel has been a little-known source of grimy hospitality, low-budget accommodations and equal numbers of satisifed and dissatisfied customers from around the world.

For A G.M. Family, The American Dream Vanishes
by Danny Hakim, New York Times
The G.M. that was once an unassailable symbol of the nation's industrial might is a shadow of its former self, and the post-World War II promise of blue-collar factory work being a secure path to the American dream has faded with it.

The Image Culture
by Christine Rosen, The New Atlantis
We will become a society of a million pictures without much memory, a society that looks forward every second to an immediate replication of what it has just done, but one that does not sustain the difficult labor of transmitting culture from one generation to the next.

To Be Young And Hip In Bangkok
by Matt Gross, New York Times
The heart of all this innovation remains Bangkok, and Soi Thonglor in particular.

How I Gave Oprah Her Start
by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I was also the person who suggested that Jerry Springer not go into syndication, for which I have received too little credit.

Deadline Hollywood
by Nikki Finke, LA Weekly
Blame Ovitz: When art started imitating Hollywood.

Paradise Lost
by Amy Braunschweiger, Village Voice
When the High Line above Manhattan's West Side turns into a park, a secret world will disappear.

Let's Go To Print
by Matt Smith, SF Weekly
And find the answer as to why San Francisco is so resistant to change.

The Pilgrims Didn't Brine
by Kim Severson, New York Times
Serious cooks spend entirely too much time thinking about the Thanksgiving turkey.

Fleiss Plans A Brothel To Serve Women
by Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Times
Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss bid farewell to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and put out the word: She's looking for a few good men.

Made In U.S., Shunned In China
by Keith Bradsher, New York Times
For a long list of reasons, American products are struggling these days in the Chinese market, where they have trouble measuring up to European brands and even some Chinese brands.

How To Start Your Own Town
by Daniel Engber, Slate
Can you name it after yourself?

Why Myths Still Matter
by Laura Miller, Salon
The religious rituals that surround them are gone, but we're still drawn to stories that transform the world — and ourselves.

Less Style, More Substance
by Susan Stellin, New York Times
On a web site for frequent fliers — many of them business travelers — a lively debate was unfolding in response to a question posted by a member: "Do people really like 'hipness' in hotels?"

Me & Mary-Louise
by Mark Shanahan, Boston Globe
A fan hopselessly smitten with the award-winning actress gets to fall for her all over again at a BU exhibit.

My Life As A Penguin
by Tim Dowling, The Guardian
They are the flightless birds everyone is talking about this winter, after a film about their mating and chick-rearing skills became a surprise U.S. hit. But can penguins really teach a man how to live, as some claim?

Their Misspent Youth
by Ayelet Waldman, Salon
Why is it so hard for politicians to understand that kids in juvenile detention need treatment not punishment?

Writing In The Dust
by Alan Rifkin, Los Angeles Times
The fabulist literature that's peculiar to Los Angeles is the only American fiction that's really worth reading.

Iran's Transexual Revolution
by Caroline Mangez, Independent
An unlikely religious ruling has made Tehran the sex-change capital of the world.

Above The Arctic Circle, Answering The Call Of The Wild
by Nathaniel Vinton, New York Times
The vast highlands north of the Arctic Circle in Norway and Sweden are sometimes called Europe's last remaining wilderness. Across much of this lonesome landscape, mankind's only trace is a network of cross-country skiing trails.

Fish Market's Salty Souls Bid South St. A Misty Adieu
by Andrew Jacobs, New York Times
These were the market's final hours on the East River, and moist-eyed tough guys were running around with disposable cameras, hugging one another and popping bottles of homemade wine.

Supersize Comeback For Fast Food
by Dan Mitchell, New York Times
There seem to be more health-unconscious consumers than anyone have guessed.

For City Kept Sleepless By Colic, No End To Cures In Melting Pot
by Nina Bernstein, New York Times
Nearly 200 languages are spoken in New York City, and in all of them, the wail of a colicky baby needs no translation. Is it indigestion? Gas? Nostalgia for the womb? Nobody really knwos. So in this city where 6 of 10 babies have at least one foreign-born parent and pediatricians come from every corner of the world, a cornucopia of colic cures serves as a kind of Rorschach test of child-rearing culturre in migration.

Green To The Core
by Judith Lewis, LA Weekly
How I tried to stop worrying and love nuclear power.

McDonald's Spills Its Guts
by Nina Lalli, Village Voice
Big Mac to come with a warning label.

The Secret Language Of Jeans
by Louisa Thomas, Slate
Why some people are willing to shell out for designer denim.

Romancing The Globe
by Ibsen Martinez, Foreign Policy
Latin American soap operas have circled the globe and made a splash in places as far flung as Poland, Russia, and Indonesia. Their secret? Plotlines that keep the poor and underprivileged glued to their sets. Now these surprising Latin exports are part of the global cultural establishment — and taking on Hollywood heavyweights.

New Yorker On DVD Is Readers' Delight, Surfers' Frustration
by Jessica Mintz, Wall Street Journal
Why does The Complete New Yorker feel so low-tech? The explanation lies in a years-long battle over a clause in U.S. copyright law concerning the ownership of rights to magazine articles written by free-lancers.

Why Vote On Tuesdays?
by David S. Broder, Washington Post
If Andrew Young has his way, never again will we have a Tuesday election. The former mayor of Atlanta and ambassador ot the United Nations wants to switch the antion's voting to the weekend.

Gotta Scoot
by Elizabeth Segal, Los Angeles Times
In Southern California, motor scooter clubs are riding a wave of nostalgia — and sweet gas mileage.

My Dinner With Google
by Andrea Sachs, Washington Post
I typed 'tofu oranges cauliflower.' And my computer concocted a meal.

His Night In The Sun
by Howard Kurtz, Washington Post
After 25 years, Ted Koppel is leaving the show that did it his way.

Making Books: The Politics Of Publishing
by Paula Span, Washington Post
If you can't say anything nice, the current thinking goes, maybe you should be an author.

For Tourists, A Calmer Paris
by Donald Morrison, New York Times
For a city under siege, Paris, in its center, is oddly pleasant these days.

Some Meditations Upon The Enigma That Is Stonehenge
by John Fowles, New York Times
My earliest memory of Stonehenge is, like so many childhood memories, as much fiction as fact.

On The Wal-Mart Money Trail
by Liza Featherstone, The Nation
As the nation's wealthiest family, the Waltons could be a force for social good. But when they choose to spend their fortune lobbying for pet projects, tax cuts and charter schools instead of providing a living wage for their workers, they are dangerous (and costly) to the nation.

Star Wars
by Mike Steinberger, Slate
Did Michelin lower the bar for New York?

Book Hunting In Britain
by Jacob Weisberg, Slate
Book collectors are thrill-seekers. It is a vegetarian hunt to be sure, without much exertion or risk, but the endorphin rush of the chase and the adrenaline high of the capture are much the same with first editions as I imagine they must be in the pursuit of 10-point stags, largemouth bass, or 20-foot waves at Maverick's.

The Naked Truth
by John Wiedenhdeft, Wisconsin State Journal
I'm not an exhibitionist. I don't even particularly like being nude. I get cold easily and I'm usually the last person in a room to take off his coat. The answer: It's a part-time job paying $13 per hour.

Will This 'Lion' Roar?
by John Horn, Los Angeles Times
It's a $180-million gamble on a spiritual children's tale, with "Shrek's" direcitro in charge of real kids. A peek behind "Narnia's" magic door.

The Boomer Files
by Jerry Adler, Newsweek
Here's the boomer credo in a nutshell: there are good years left.

Endangered Species? Not Tonight, Thank You
by Hannah Beech, Time
With the world at its door, China takes a crash course in Western etiquette.

The True Story Of The Poppy Girl And Her Mother
by Julia Stuart, Independent
'Daddy would be so proud' — the words to her daughter of Anna Aston, soldier's widow and face of this year's British Legion Appeal.

Saying Goodbye California Sun, Hello Midwest
by Motoko Rich and David Leonhardt, New York Times
The same factors that have made California so alluring also made it unaffordable for many young families, retirees and recent immigrants to the United States. Some are heading to fast-growing cities like Las Vegas, as they have been for decades. But even less-glamorous destinations, like the Rust Belt and Texas, are on the receiving end of the migration.

Dr. Pill To The Rescue
by Lynn Harris, Salon
As the FDA stalls making Plan B emergency contraception available to women, a New Mexico doctor has stepped in to help — now.

A Literature Lover Strikes It Rich
by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
There is a mother lode of independent bookstores in two towns in California's Gold Country.

Political Fictions
by Rachel Donadio, New York Times
Novels by politicians may meet with snide reviews and tepid sales, but they can't seem to stop writing them.

Seeking An Honest Marshmallow
by Greg Atkinson, Seattle Times
A tale of deep weeds and strange experiments, with a satisfying end.

Trading Places
by Emmet Rosenfeld, Washington Post
A night school English teacher and a Honduran construction worker share lessons about literature and life.

Do-Over Dads
by Carlene Hempel, Boston Globe
The first batch of kids is grown and gone, but these men are becoming fathers again at 50, 60, and 70. How a second chance at fatherhood is changing men — and both sets of families.

London Loses Its Culinary Cool To A Star-Studded New York
by Jay Rayner, The Observer
Michelin has launched its first US restaurant guide, putting the Big Apple ahead of London in the world cuisine league.

The Right To Be A Father (Or Not)
by Pam Belluck, New York Times
Case study one: a pregnant woman wants an abortion. Her husband doesn't. Should he have a say? Case study two: a woman wants to become pregnant with frozen embryos. Her ex-husband opposes the decision. Should he have a say?

Singled Out For Special Treatment
by Toby Moore, Financial Times
A while after the Schism of 2002 (the end of my most recent relationship), I decided to try the once unthinkable — I would join an introduction agency. There, I've said it. But most middle-aged single men apparently won't.

Iraq's Lethal Traffic: Warning! Anarchy Ahead
by Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times
For all the frustration they cause, the sea of idling cars are also a sign of progress.

Does that F-16 Come With A Warranty?
by Daniel Engber, Slate
What happens if the U.S. government sells you a lemon.

Divine Destruction
by Stephenie Hendricks, Seattle Weekly
'Wise use,' dominion theology, and the making of American enviornmental policy.

Glass Menagerie
by Dave Jamieson, Washington City Paper
Ditch it to court yuppies and armed robbers, or maintain their low-risk but cramped existence? At least for now, the degradation seems to be worth it. In D.C., plexiglass will be the last relic of riot architecture to go.

The Real Cost Of A Free Meal
by Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times
A restaurant critic dines on the house, raising serious questions about the ethics of reviewing.

Is New York Woth A Trip? Oui
by Florence Fabricant, New York Times
It may have been only one more review among many, but when Michelin announced its first ratings for restaurants in New York City yesterday morning, superstar chefs and proprietors reacted with joyous tears, resignation and, in some cases, dismay.

Hotels Trot Out Perks From The Extravagant To The Restful
by Abby Ellin, New York Times
Many high-end hotels realize that, by now, guests have become a bit jaded about all the extras that have been lavished on them in recent years, like free bottled water, wireless internet service, flat-screen plasma television in rooms and ubiquitous helath clubs and spas. To stand out, many of them are devising over-the-top perks to pamper guests and to make them want to come back for more.

Those Forgotten Mummies In The Cellar Must Be Cursed
by Michael Slackman, New York Times
Egyptian archaeologists, who normally scour the desert in search of treasures of the past, have discovered that one of the greatest caches of antiquities may well be in the basement of the Egyptian Museum.

Women's Studies
by Rebecca Traister, Salon
Chick lit is often dissed for being trashy and dumb. Back off! These novels of fashion and family are recording women's history.

How Many Ways Can You Say "Lie"?
by Daniel Engber, Slate
The difference between perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice.

The Redhead And The Gray Lady
by Ariel Levy, New York
How Maureen Dowd became the most dangerous columnist in America — on her own, very female terms.