A Family’s Struggle to Find Food in Gaza

Plus: Wayne LaPierre’s misconduct; the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza; and Hanif Abdurraqib on the eloquence of Black hair. View in browser | Update your preferences Saturday, February 24, 2024 Essay My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza In my homeland, where we used to cook and celebrate together, my relatives are eating animal feed to keep from starving. By Mosab Abu Toha From the News Desk News Desk Even Before His Trial, the N.R.A.’s Wayne LaPierre Was a Fraud The pro-gun group’s former leader used the organization’s funds to enrich himself and those close to him. But the deception went much deeper. By Mike Spies Letter from the Southwest El Paso’s Saint of the Border Negotiates a New Reality For nearly fifty years, Ruben Garcia has welcomed migrants and refugees at Annunciation House. Amid record border crossings, Texas is now trying to shut down his network of shelters. By Rachel Monroe Q. & A. The Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza Can Only Get Worse Trying to project the death toll from Israel’s military campaign over the next six months. By Isaac Chotiner The Political Scene Podcast Does Impeachment Mean Anything Anymore? House Republicans managed to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas; but their investigation into Joe Biden is on the verge of collapse. Editor’s Pick The Weekend Essay The Hair Does the Talking In my youth, when I wore a kufi, what my hair looked like became a source of wonder for the people around me. I took a foolish pleasure in holding on to that kind of power. By Hanif Abdurraqib Books We Recommend This Week Reviews of notable new fiction and nonfiction. John Lewis, by Raymond Arsenault (Yale). This sweeping biography represents the first effort at a comprehensive account of the life of the civil-rights icon John Lewis. Lewis’s “almost surreal trajectory” begins with his childhood in a “static rural society seemingly impervious to change.” Arsenault frames what followed in terms of Lewis’s attempt to cultivate the spirit of “Beloved Community”—a term, coined by the theologian Josiah Royce, for a community “based on love.” Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Alphabetical Diaries, by Sheila Heti (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). This unconventional text comprises diary-entry excerpts that are arranged according to the alphabetical order of their first letters. The sections derive their meaning not from chronology but from unexpected juxtapositions: “Dream of me yelling at my mother, nothing I did was ever good enough for you! Dresden. Drinking a lot.” Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Twilight Territory, by Andrew X. Pham (Norton). Set during the Japanese occupation of Indochina and its bloody aftermath, this novel of war is nimbly embroidered with a marriage story. In 1942, a Japanese major who is posted to the fishing town of Phan Thiet falls for a Viet shopkeeper when he witnesses her excoriating a corrupt official. The shopkeeper, despite her wariness of being viewed as a sympathizer, accedes to a courtship with the major, recognizing their shared “language of loss and loneliness,” and the two eventually marry. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. To the Letter, by Tomasz Różycki, translated from the Polish by Mira Rosenthal (Archipelago). In this philosophical collection that explores doubt—regarding language, God, and the prospect of repeating history—many poems address an unreachable “you” who could be a lover, a deity, or a ghost of someone long dead. Rosenthal’s translation draws out these poems’ shades of melancholy and whimsy, along with the slant and irregular rhymes that contribute to their uncanny humor. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. The best books of 2024 so far What are you reading this week? Reply to let us know. Culture Dept. Fiction “On the Night of the Khatam” Even those of us who despised Fahim, who refused to forgive his past sins, couldn’t deny the triumph of his resurrection. By Jamil Jan Kochai This Week in Fiction Jamil Jan Kochai on a Shared Cultural Language The author discusses his story “On the Night of the Khatam.” By Deborah Treisman Fun & Games Dept. Shouts & Murmurs Excerpts from a Posting for My Ideal Job You thrive in a collaborative environment of constant validation and frequent reminders that no one is mad at you. By Danielle Kraese Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play our trivia game » Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.