Words&Dirt

Given the recent popularity of post-apocalyptic narratives, it seems a good time to pick up Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon.  Frank’s portrait of a small Florida community coping with nuclear fallout is an early contribution to the genre, one that demonstrates considerable cleverness and technical merit.  Sadly, this story of Cold War-era anxiety and ingenuity has [...]

“‘Once, holidays meant the time when you went away.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yes, I remember hearing that.  Primitive stuff.  Age of Scarcity.’ ‘People had to do all the work and create wealth for themselves and society and so they couldn’t afford to take very much time off.  So they worked for, say, half the day, most days [...]