When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn't come from anyw...here else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Often, when there is a conflict between parent and child, at its very hub is an expectation that the child should be acting differ...ently. Sometimes these expectations run counter what is known about children's growth. They stem from remembering oneself, but usually at a slightly older age.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
America is a nation with no truly national city, no Paris, no Rome, no London, no city which is at once the social center, the pol...itical capital, and the financial hub.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We recognize caste in dogs because we rank ourselves by the familiar dog system, a ladderlike social arrangement wherein one indiv...idual outranks all others, the next outranks all but the first, and so on down the hierarchy. But the cat system is more like a wheel, with a high-ranking cat at the hub and the others arranged around the rim, all reluctantly acknowledging the superiority of the despot but not necessarily measuring themselves against one another.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The Bostonians take their learning too sadly: culture with them is an accomplishment rather than an atmosphere; their "Hub," as th...ey call it, is the paradise of prigs.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The cities of America are inexpressibly tedious. The Bostonians take their learning too sadly; culture with them is an accomplishm...ent rather than an atmosphere; their "Hub," as they call it, is the paradise of prigs. Chicago is a sort of monster-shop, full of bustles and bores. Political life at Washington is like political life in a suburban vestry. Baltimore is amusing for a week, but Philadelphia is dreadfully provincial; and though one can dine in New York one could not dwell there.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »