Jesse Ball's study of teen alienation, while persuasive, heads for and reaches a dead end.
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Clever boy
Vladimir Putin's decision to stand pat on tit-for-tat expulsions shows a grandmaster at work.
Detach or engage
New York performance artist Pat Oleszko refuses to take Donald Trump lying down. So she dresses up.
Eye of the beholder
A wife's love for affluent Australia is offset by an Italian husband who sees shoppers as bored.
Doing it again
Italy's opening to gay civil unions has let couples "register" their love. But it's not easy.
Tree ghosts
Arbre du Ténéré's mesmerizing "La pelle del fantasma" stood out in 2016.
Citrus stories
Italy's best oranges come from Sicily, and until recently the northward trek was rare.
Fear of falling
We all trip and fall in life, though most of us would prefer to pretend it doesn't happen.
Helios 21
Wanting a toy once took persistence and restraint — and sometimes even behaving like an adult.
The color of presents
Holiday gift giving can sometimes seem a little forced, but the underlying motives usually aren't.
Tree girl
As a kid, climbing a tree made you feel invincible because the world seemed to belong to you.
Once upon a Christmas
Growing up in the U.S. Midwest, Christmas was a quirky mix of the vAnglo-Saxon and the Latin.