Thursday morning roundup

Bad is normal in Nigeria, and collective amnesia the defense mechanism.

Bad is getting incrementally better in Burma.

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I loved Amy Bloom's "Come to Me," but I find myself hating "Away." Not just not getting into it, but hating it. It reads false. Is it my sensitivity to her writing immigrants, rather than who she knows, as in "Come to Me"? Is it the writing style? I don't know, but the book is annoying.