In Post & Riposte:
Bystanders to Genocide
Was the United States's inaction during the Rwandan genocide indefensible? What should be done differently the next time the United States faces a humanitarian crisis abroad?
The Early-Decision Racket
Should early-decision college admissions be abolished? Weigh in on James Fallows's cover story in the September issue.
Confessions of a Prep School College Counselor
What makes one college more popular than another? How important is attending an elite college to future success? Discuss Caitlin Flanagan's September article.
Suitably Attired
Are men's suits here to stay? Or will they be replaced by dot-com casual? Discuss William Hamilton's article in the September issue.
See the complete forum index.

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77 North Washington Street by Michael Kelly
In This Issue
Letters to the Editor
INNOCENT BYSTANDER: Immaterial Civilization
by Cullen Murphy

Toronto: The King of Closed Captions by Michael Erard
Bombay: India's Disappearing Vultures by Stephen Bodio
Washington, D.C.: Help Wanted by Daniel Goldin
Bogotá: All the City's a Stage by Mark Schapiro
Los Angeles: Up in Smoke by Jeff Spurrier

The Early-Decision Racket
How a controversial tactic in elite-college admissions has distorted the admissions process and added an insane intensity to middle-class obsessions about college
by James Fallows
The Old College Try: Who gets in, and why? Atlantic articles from 1892 to the present
consider the art, the science, and the gamesmanship of college
admissions [Web only]
Confessions of a Prep School College Counselor
"I had no idea what I was in for"—no idea that confident students and loving parents would turn into complete neurotics
by Caitlin Flanagan
Centerpiece: Lake Wobegone Summer 1956
Excerpts from a new novel by the host of A Prairie Home Companion
by Garrison Keillor
Bystanders to Genocide
The Clinton Administration knew enough about the Rwandan genocide early on to save countless lives. It passed up every opportunity to do so. Why?
by Samantha Power
Limits A poem by Eavan Boland [with audio]
Couple at the Club A poem by Pamela Alexander [with audio]
Rough Beast A poem by Jean Monahan [with audio]
Digging A short story by Beth Lordan
Darkness Starts A poem by Christian Wiman [with audio]
Incident Report Alec Guiness and Edith Evans
by Edward Sorel and Nancy Caldwell Sorel


TRAVEL: Tales of the Alhambra by Cullen Murphy
FASHION: Suitably Attired by William Hamilton
FOOD: Potato Salad by Corby Kummer

The Country and the City
Two volumes of novels by Dawn Powell, reviewed by Philip Hensher
New and Noteworthy
This fall's hot novel; Salman Rushdie's latest; correcting the blather about "globalization"
Bozzy's Life
Boswell's Presumptuous Task, by Adam Sisman, reviewed by Miranda Seymour
The Puzzler by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
Word Court by Barbara Wallraff
Cover art by Bill Nelson.
All material copyright © 2001 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.