Kurt Vonnegut: LettersEdited by Dan Wakefield (Delacorte Press)True story: I once made Kurt Vonnegut laugh by telling him a joke. It wasn’t an original or especially noteworthy joke. It was a riddle prompted by what, in 2001, was one of the New York Mets’ more-error-ridden-than-usual losing streaks.“What,” I asked him (and, to repeat, this was some time ago), “do Michael Jackson and this year’s Mets have in common?” Beat, beat, then the answer: “They all wear one glove for no explicable reason.”

Does this Church Make Me Look FatBy Rhoda Janzen (Grand Central)The transformation of Rhoda Janzen ― the Mennonite-turned-worldly-academic whose book about returning home made the bestseller list ― continues. Which is a delight for fans of her warm, wisecracking style.In “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress,” Janzen wrote of a series of devastating forces that sent her to heal in the peace-loving, hardworking community of her youth: complications from surgery, divorce due to husband meeting a man

From Brooklyn tenements, a star is born

Renowned English primatologist and environmentalist Jane Goodall on Wednesday urged people to start with easy steps to conserve the environment, saying millions of small choices can effect changes.The founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which works extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues, said people around the world have begun thinking about the environment and our future but they usually feel helpless and give up because they look at all the problems such as war and envi

NEW YORK (AFP) ― People magazine on Wednesday declared Hollywood actor Channing Tatum the “sexiest man alive” in 2012.A muscular 32-year-old former model, Tatum has appeared in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “21 Jump Street” and “Magic Mike,” among other films.Upon hearing he had been picked for the annual honor, Tatum was modest, the gossip magazine said.“Y’all are messing with me,” it quoted him as saying.His wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, told the magazine that her husband sculpts and likes to quot

Park Yu-hyun, co-founder and CEO of InfollutionZERO, a Korean nongovernmental organization which campaigns to eliminate “information pollution,” will receive a UNESCO prize for her creative use of information technology in education.UNESCO said in a news release Tuesday that it will present the 2011 UNESCO-King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education to two winners at its headquarters in Paris, France, on Nov. 20. The winners are Park

Health officials all around the world have introduced a variety of policies to reduce smoking rates: warning labels and graphic, almost grotesque images on cigarette packs, campaigns, and many countries including South Korea have banned or are pushing to ban smoking in public places.One researcher from Australia, however, has gone so far as to say people should carry a license if they want to buy cigarettes.Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said it is possi

Pvt. John Bartle, the narrator of Kevin Powers’ sorrowful war novel “The Yellow Birds,” is a man of reason caught between the uncontrolled emotions of two men.The first is his sergeant, a severe gunslinger and molder of warriors named Sterling. Sgt. Sterling’s discipline and his rage against the enemy are keeping his squad of men alive as they patrol an eerie, death-filled Iraqi landscape. Pvt. Bartle loves and hates him for this.“I hated the way he excelled in death and brutality and domination

An international report released by the Canadian Cancer Society ranked Australia for best cigarette package health warnings, officials say.The report ranked 198 countries and jurisdictions on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages. Australia led all the countries with more than 82 percent of their cigarette packages covered with health warnings, followed by: 80 percent in Uruguay, 80 percent in Sri Lanka, 75 percent in Canada and 75 percent in Brunei. The report was released at

New nation branding commission chief seeks to brand Korea by putting together fragmented images

Following is part of a series on Seoul’s hottest bars and clubs. ― Ed.Foreign tourists and those who have spent time abroad often admit that cocktails in Korea are less than great. The country produces some elite bartenders who claim top prizes at international contests, but most of its bartenders ― even at five-star hotel bars ― don’t seem to know how to make even a simple classic drink properly. Adding to the problem, many Koreans do not know much about cocktails, ordering them only on special

Kim Joon-yong, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim’s elder brother, recently took office as partner and Korea practice leader of Squire Sanders, a U.S.-based global law firm.The Seoul office of Squire Sanders held its opening ceremony at Shilla Seoul hotel on Nov. 8. Sung Kim attended the event and made a congratulatory speech. The office was set up in Ferrum Tower in central Seoul in early October, officials said.The brothers majored in law in the U.S. Kim Joon-yong attended Choong Ang High Schoo

New nation branding commission chief seeks to brand Korea by putting together fragmented images