Word: workings
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...likely but less immediately detrimental one was that we might get poisoned by the New River... The second peril, which seriously concerned me, was dehydration.” In spite of such ubiquitous danger, Vollmann’s devotion is unflagging; “Imperial” is a work that leaves little to the imagination, and Vollmann literally leaves no stone unturned. His obsession both drives the book and sidetracks it. One chapter includes listings from the county directory of names and their corresponding occupations. In another, he describes a lingerie store and muses on its possible place...
...Thus, “Imperial” is a work of journalism, but only in the same way that Imperial is simply a county in California. Vollmann provides graphs and charts and diagrams and maps alongside an exhaustively-researched history. The citation section of “Imperial” spans 200 pages alone. The book is also filled with painstaking interviews with residents, officers, illegal aliens, strippers, “cayotes” (men hired to smuggle immigrants into the country illegally)—in short, everyone who is willing for $10 or less...
...came down Highway 78 into Ocotillo.” He characterizes his quest as one to understand Imperial as a place divorced from his own personal memories. Somehow this absurd explanation for the origins of “Imperial” seems absolutely credible coming from Vollmann, whose previous works reveal, if nothing else, a man easily obsessed. A sentimentality colors the prose of Vollmann’s work at large in a way that would make calling “Imperial” purely non-fiction reductive. Even his decision to leave out quotations in favor of fluid movement...
...system, was built nearly 40 years ago in Nekoma, N.D. Huge earth-moving machines dug up 1.75 million cu. yd. of rich, black loam from the 470-acre site. Contractors built the base with 160,000 cu. yd. of concrete and 12,000 tons of steel. They crowned their work with a partly buried, 123-ft.-tall pyramid containing the system's key radar. Each of its four "eyes" had sprinklers to wash away any potential radioactive debris from collisions between the nearby nuclear-tipped interceptors and incoming Soviet missiles...
...authorities are worried that they are not seeing the bigger picture. Typically, getting cooperation from witnesses has proved difficult for police because many are on their way to work or school when the incidents occur and don't want to be late. There has also been a degree of resistance among victims, as false accusations in Japan can ruin reputations on both sides. Police are concerned that many women choose to withstand the abuse rather than report it, especially as molesters' tactics have become more organized and harder to detect. If this trend continues, "it could degrade the environment...