The difference between the mass mig-
rations of refugees from a scourge
and the generational replenishments
of enlistments in academic or mili-
tary services on the one hand, and
the mature single arrival at a res-
idential freehold, on the other, is
the rate of their assimilation. The
bird disdains the shoulder of the
undocumented nomad, and the environ-
ment follows suit. This is more than
ordinarily the case in places where
the Christian sects have balkanized
the population, and provincial prior
schooling must be verifiable. Stores
and restaurants mount lurid banners,
embracing the funneled, without al-
lowance for the overspray of indiv-
idual motivation. Probably this is
why the rakish sporting dog was in-
vented, the heart-throbbing, skate-
board-braking boulevardier of arch
tailoring and swaggering wag, whose
name must simply be learned on the
spot. Frank Bruni posted a knowing
entry on this syndrome at The Times
the other day, with typically high
hopes for redeeming democracy via
canine diplomacy. Thorny and I, for
our part, have always settled for
a cultivated tender of courtesy.
Frank Bruni
The New York Times
August 31, 2019
Jenny Uglow
The New York Review
of Books
August 15, 2019
i Ben Hardie
ii Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels
Illustration for the
edition of 1726
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