
##4077974 DAY OUT OF DAYS # Stories # By Sam Shepard # 282 pp . Alfred A. Knopf. $25.95. # For Sam Shepard , the prizewinning playwright and short-story writer ( and sometime Hollywood actor ) whose work might be characterized as Grass-Roots Gothic , infused as it is with a sense of folksy madness and populist brutality , the American landscape is a sprawling cemetery , a field of bad dreams spread out between two oceans . Its markers , commemorating acts of violence that seem to repeat themselves through the generations in a cruel infinity loop , consist of dark highways stretching to the horizon . Under them lies a dense matrix of remains . The bones of Plains Indians , Confederate soldiers , hard-luck homesteaders and hellbound drunks mix in a democratic necropolis capped by thousands of miles of oily blacktop . These routes , which for some writers promise liberation -- an escape into unbounded freedom and possibility -- are , for Shepard , roads of no return . Laid out north and south and east and west , they all lead in the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Days , ' his new collection of stories ( many of them no longer than a few paragraphs and some of them styled as dialogues or poems ) , the anonymous narrator drives and drives , compulsively , logging the names of the towns he beds down in as though reciting a roll call of the dead . Williams , Arizona . Alpine , Texas . Valentine , Nebraska . Butte , Montana . They 're the sort of forsaken , in-between locales where travelers do n't usually stop except to buy gas or wolf down truck-stop breakfasts before moving on to bigger , brighter places , but Shepard 's restless , red-eyed alter ego treats them as destinations , not just pit stops , abiding in them until they yield their secrets . Unlike Kerouac 's seekers , his seeming models who blasted across the map in hot pursuit of long-lost comrades , hip diversions and rare epiphanies , the figure who 's sometimes referred to as ' ' the actor ' ( and who shares with his celebrated author certain biographical features like a part-time movie career and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in much of hurry to get anywhere . He 's fine with being nowhere . He prefers it . # Escape is n't his goal . He craves perspective , a meditative immersion in deep particulars that allows him to access broader truths . In a Bossier City , La. , motel whose rooms are crowded with Katrina refugees , he wraps his consciousness around the gears that endlessly generate man-made cataclysms . ' ' You can see the trucks pouring back and forth from Dallas . You can hear the B-52 bombers big as small cities running low patterns all day long . Running circles from the local air base ; practicing for Iraq , I guess . Practicing for some new catastrophe . . . . Big long ropes of black fuel trailing out across the sky , out past Louisiana Downs , across the greasy Red River where the big , glitzy casinos flash their neons bragging about jackpots and payouts and fun trips to the Bahamas , and nobody out here 's got a pot to piss in . Nobody on this side of the river anyway @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , part observer , part silent monologuist . He addresses himself like a stranger in the stories , reporting back on his encounters to a hidden , secondary self that he seems to be curiously removed from , even baffled by . He besieges this self with queries and accusations that seldom elicit a response . ' ' What 's going on ? You 're not going to last very long if you keep this up , you know . You 'll burn yourself out . Ca n't you just follow some sort of itinerary , at least ? ' Hovering in his background , in his past , is an ill-defined series of missteps , the reader senses , that seem to stem from a long romance that has grown cold and , possibly , unsalvageable . He 's also beset by the specter of a lost father : a raging , sadistic alcoholic cut down in a fatal hit-and-run whose habits are cropping up in Shepard 's narrator . The clock of ruin is ticking deep inside him , tracking the revolutions of his odometer . He knows better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ # Breaking the collection into acts is a series of surrealistic interludes in which Shepard 's mobile man of mystery converses with a chatty severed head . The head seems to stand for his father 's abiding influence , but also for the actual dismemberments that have come to dominate the news stories playing in the background of the travelogue , from the mayhem unleashed by amphetamine-crazed killers to the beheadings of captured G.I. 's by ruthless masked enemies in the war on terror . This war , as Shepard would have us understand it , is just the latest engagement in an old battle against the alleged foes of civilization that targeted the likes of Crazy Horse . The head , discovered in a filthy ditch , its eyes squeezed shut , its thoughts unknown , is a mocking , teasing entity . It demands to be heard and acknowledged by an America that all too easily buries its atrocities under roadside bronze-plaqued monuments that , all too often , go unheeded because we zoom past them at such high speeds , pursuing errands of little consequence . # Shepard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reflections on our fraught geography are cut with more mundane realistic tales concerning the traveler 's brushes with his own past , which he seems to be having trouble recollecting as he ages and his health declines . ' ' Day Out of Days ' is a tale of failing memory , on the personal level as well the collective , and the motive behind its hero 's wanderings is to confront the chaos that 's overcome him and , if possible , correct it . This turns out to be a tricky goal . In a snowbound Holiday Inn in Indianapolis , he bumps into an old lover who still seems fond of him . She offers him a sofa -- the only one to be had for miles around -- but he coolly begs off and sets off into the blizzard . Later , blinded by the storm , he turns back around , accepts his old flame 's kindness , and finds himself reduced to tears by her pure , undiminished loyalty . But he 's far too estranged and exhausted to respond , we sense . He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . # He blows it again on a visit to his hometown . He 's waylaid in a diner by an old partner in adolescent delinquency who recognizes him from his movie roles . Playing Judas to his younger self , he denies his own identity , ducking the sentimental moment . It 's a perverse but profound American urge : to achieve solitude through perpetual motion . Descended from colonists who tamed the wilderness and one in a long line of tough-guy soldiers , Shepard 's existential soloist ca n't shake his stoic attraction to isolation . Instead he finds companionship in ghosts -- Kit Carson , Hank Williams , Woody Guthrie ; lonesome , iconoclastic ramblers all -- and he lives every day as though it were Memorial Day , quietly roaming the continental graveyard , seeking intimacy with the long gone . Occasionally he goes home to see his loved ones , but he ca n't abide their tiny concerns and flees . In the book 's finest story , ' ' Saving Fats , ' he loses himself in a stranger 's far-fetched tale of the waterborne @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . The tale is too outlandish to be convincing , but Shepard 's character lets the lies sink in . He 's come to see that fantasies beat facts -- or rather , they are facts -- in a land like ours . Fantasies organize experience in the manner of a good journey , while facts retard progress , pulling up short . # Shepard 's book has no normal beginning , middle and end . Its structure is not sequential but vertical . Using fanciful anecdotes , lyric riffs , seemingly lifelike reminiscences and quotes from our nation 's founding thinkers , he drills down through the strata of our history into the bedrock of American myth . He sinks his wells at random , in offbeat spots , taking core samples from all over the country that often contain fossils of shared experience , some of them heavily crusted over with legend . His words have a flinty , mineral integrity , especially when he describes the people around him , who come off as distinctive individuals but also have an enduring archetypal feel , like the iconic figures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and footloose fellow wanderers have been with us always and probably always will be . Their names may change over time but not their souls , which eventually form the ground we 're forced to cover us as we fan out to seek our fates . But their moans are still audible over our engine noise -- if we only slow down enough to hear them in the way that Shepard does . # # 
##4077975 JAMES P. GORMAN , a 6-foot-2 Australian , recently took up boxing lessons , in keeping with some of the trappings of his Midtown Manhattan office . On one wall , opposite an inspirational poem by Rudyard Kipling ( ' ' The Thousandth Man ' ' ) , hangs a photograph of Elvis Presley sparring with Muhammad Ali . # ' ' I have a lot of respect for Ali , ' says Mr. Gorman. # As the new chief executive of Morgan Stanley , an investment bank that narrowly escaped the financial smackdown that destroyed many of its competitors , Mr. Gorman may have to get ready for some fisticuffs. # He is tasked with overhauling a firm that put a primacy on high-risk trading under his predecessor , John J. Mack , and one that has spent the last several years often riven by factional disputes and internal debates over strategy . # Under Mr. Mack , Morgan Stanley made errant mortgage bets and commercial property gambles that cost it billions of dollars and almost destroyed it . The firm was saved by a $10 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Asian investors who wrested a large stake in the firm in exchange for cash . # During Mr. Mack 's tenure , from 2005 to the end of last year , the stock price fell 32 percent . And the firm , which will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year , is expected to announce this week the first annual loss in its history . # ' ' There is no question there have been rough spots , ' Mr. Gorman said , in his first interview since becoming chief executive on Jan. 1 . ' ' We have had periods of management turmoil , misplaced trading positions . We have invested in real estate at the wrong end of the market . Clearly there were some mistakes made , but you ca n't be in a complex global bank and not have mistakes . ' # He added that the bank now had ' ' a sense of clarity about what we want to be ' -- and that it would n't be trading with large amounts of its own capital . ' ' We are a very focused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ client-centered. ' # Mr. Gorman , 51 , will have to prove that the steadier , more diversified bank he hopes to build -- with less megatrading and more advisory work for clients -- can still take on more aggressive Wall Street titans like Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan Chase , rivals that thus far have navigated the crisis more successfully . # Mr. Gorman says that Morgan will eventually begin taking bigger risks and wagering more money to do so , but that it will avoid big , concentrated bets on complex products that few people understand -- and that have the potential to blow up an institution . # ' ' We are still taking risks , ' he says , but ' ' we will not have the outsize risk positions that will endanger the firm . ' # Still , some analysts remain tentative about Morgan Stanley 's prospects in a financial landscape littered with corporate wreckage and dominated by a handful of wily survivors . While the firm 's traditional investment banking franchise has emerged strongly from the crisis -- topping JPMorgan and Goldman in some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken piles of money off the table in its broader institutional securities business . # Guy Moszkowski , an analyst at Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch , notes that Morgan Stanley has about $17 billion in capital committed to its institutional securities business , compared with his estimate of around $40 billion at Goldman and $33 billion at JPMorgan. # Over the last few years , ' ' they seemed to hang back from risk-taking even at times when they could get paid richly , ' Mr. Moszkowski says . # ' ' Then they pushed themselves forward when the party was already ending , ' he adds . ' Morgan Stanley lagged again last year . The net result is they zigged when they should have zagged . There is an issue in that they have fallen behind their peers , though I believe they can resolve it . ' # MR . GORMAN 'S arrival at Morgan Stanley is , of course , heavily informed by Mr. Mack 's track record . Mr. Mack , who is staying on as chairman and will continue to occupy his old office , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reviews as a manager . # Mr. Mack , 65 , had spent most of his career at Morgan Stanley and was one of the architects of its 1997 merger with the brokerage firm Dean Witter . The chief executive of Dean Witter , Philip J. Purcell , outmaneuvered Mr. Mack for control of Morgan in the following years . Mr. Mack left in 2001 , ushering in an era of pitched battles between Purcell supporters and Mack loyalists who remained . # After much to-and-fro , Mr. Purcell -- who pushed for less risk-taking at the firm but delivered lackluster financial results -- was forced out in 2005 , and Mr. Mack made a triumphant return . And that is where the real debate on his performance begins , especially in light of the outsize losses Morgan Stanley absorbed . # ' ' John really did do most of the things that the shareholders and some of the retired employees were hoping he would do , ' says Robert G. Scott , a former senior executive at the firm who was among those who successfully agitated for Mr. Mack 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the people who are executing the strategy in various business units have a tremendous responsibility for the results , and the seeds for that underperformance were sown before John took over . ' # Others , however , have a harsher view . # ' ' What 's the legacy of John Mack ? ' asks William D. Cohan , a former investment banker and the author of ' ' House of Cards , ' a best seller about the financial crisis . ' ' He nearly lost the firm by taking big risks . In the Mack era , a dirty little secret is that had they stuck to Purcell , they would not almost have gone out of business in 2008. ' # Mr. Mack acknowledges some regrets about the course of his career -- that he never consummated a proposed merger of Morgan Stanley 's asset management business with BlackRock , which has become one of the world 's largest money managers , and that he never flushed out more senior managers when he returned in 2005. # ' ' There were things you just did n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ' ' Certain positions were a lot older than anyone ever told me . When you come into an organization , you need fresh eyes . You do n't need anyone who can defend what 's been in place in the past . ' # But on his legacy he is clear , he says : he changed the firm for the better . # Passionate , emotional , intuitive and a former bond trader , Mr. Mack worked hard to restore swagger and confidence to traders and others who believed that Morgan Stanley lost its way under Mr. Purcell . # After returning , Mr. Mack boasted of his renewed appetite for risk and pushed the firm into fashionable areas like subprime mortgages , commercial real estate and leveraged lending . To emulate other banks like Goldman , he advocated using the firm 's own capital to pursue bigger , hairier trades . # That strategy worked at first -- 2006 was a record year -- but Morgan Stanley 's swashbuckling was n't backed up by adequate risk controls , a reality embodied by the biggest trading loss in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may mark the Mack era. # The loss came at a specialized trading shop housed inside the firm and run by a man named Howie Hubler , then in his mid-30s . Mr. Hubler 's 50-person team correctly wagered $1.4 billion that the subprime mortgage market was weak and would become progressively worse , insight that paid off in 2006 and into early 2007. # But to protect itself against possible losses on that trade , the team bought contracts that would enable it to profit if the subprime sector stabilized . Those latter bets proved extremely vulnerable , and as the mortgage market imploded -- setting off one of the worst economic crises in American history -- Morgan Stanley was trapped . The firm ended up losing $10 billion on the wagers . # A person familiar with the trade , who requested anonymity because of contractual obligations that prevent him from speaking about the firm , said the unit was never a rogue operation and that many of Morgan Stanley 's leaders were aware of its activities and approved of them , including the group 's proposals to wind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the firm was slammed by losses on direct commercial property investments , like Crescent Real Estate , a $6.5 billion portfolio of urban office properties that it bought at the peak of the boom in 2007 . Last November , facing defaults on borrowing tied to the portfolio , Morgan Stanley surrendered it to Barclays Capital . For the first three quarters of 2009 , Morgan Stanley booked real estate losses of $2.1 billion . # Mr. Mack says the firm took on such risks because everyone else on Wall Street was doing it , too . ' ' Did I have too much leverage ? ' he says . ' ' Yes . But the whole industry did . ' # He says that some of the trading positions were put on the books in the Purcell years and that Morgan Stanley 's chief risk officer did n't report directly to him , which prevented crucial information from reaching his office . # Mr. Mack responded to the trading debacle by ousting his protege , Zoe Cruz , the firm 's co-president , who was in charge of the institutional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Street , Mr. Mack has taken some responsibility for his mistakes by forgoing a bonus for the last three years . In Congressional testimony last week , he said he was an advocate of greater regulation because of the threats to the financial system that he saw during the crisis . # He also shuttered all but one of Morgan Stanley 's proprietary trading desks and ousted some senior executives in its real estate businesses . And , rather than bowing to regulatory demands that he sell the firm , Mr. Mack strengthened Morgan Stanley 's balance sheet by selling a chunk of the firm to the Asian investors . That move , as well as taxpayer largess in the form of federal bailout money , kept it from collapsing . # Yet , for all of this , Mr. Mack arguably made another mistake after the worst of the crisis 's initial stages had passed -- by dialing back risk-taking too far . Rivals like Goldman Sachs took advantage of the reduced number of competitors to ring up record trading profits last year , windfalls that Morgan Stanley missed out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ' concedes Mr. Mack . ' ' But we had not built out enough of a platform in sales and trading . ' # Waiting in the wings as all of these financial dramas played out was Mr. Gorman , a former lawyer from Melbourne who was one of Mr. Mack 's first major hires when he returned to the firm in 2005. # CEREBRAL , circumspect and analytical , Mr. Gorman 's style contrasts with Mr. Mack 's brasher , more intuitive approach -- a telling reminder of just how much the financial crisis has traumatized Morgan Stanley and the extent to which the bank 's board , and Mr. Mack himself , recognize the need for a calm , risk-conscious hand at the tiller . # In 1987 , after receiving an M.B.A . from Columbia 's Graduate School of Business , Mr. Gorman joined the consulting giant McKinsey , where , among other things , he was a member of the financial services practice . In 1999 , David H. Komansky , then the chief executive of Merrill Lynch , recruited Mr. Gorman as its marketing chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unlike Mr. Mack , is a larger-than-life figure -- as his first mentor. # ' ' He told me : One , stay grounded ; two , do n't underestimate the importance of personal relationships inside and outside the firm , ' Mr. Gorman says of Mr. Komansky . ' ' And three , if someone is doing the wrong thing , no matter how big a producer they are , they are out . ' # MR . GORMAN eventually oversaw Merrill 's global private client business and made many changes he would later employ at Morgan Stanley -- segmenting the market and focusing on wealthier clients . A former Merrill colleague described him as a quick study and unafraid of internal battles with Mr. Komansky 's successor , E. Stanley O'Neal. # ' ' He was not always focused on the political ramifications of something , ' says this person , who requested anonymity because of contractual obligations that prevent him from speaking about Merrill . ' ' I watched him in a tug of war with O'Neal and not let it go . If he thinks something is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a good thing . ' # Friction with Mr. O'Neal primed Mr. Gorman to accept Mr. Mack 's invitation in 2005 , a call that came partially at the recommendation of Laurence D. Fink , the chief executive of BlackRock . # ' ' He understands how to bring culture to an organization , ' says Mr. Fink . ' ' He can talk about the high-level strategy and understands the details of the business . ' # At Morgan Stanley , Mr. Gorman led the global wealth management division and tied up a number of loose ends from the Dean Witter merger : replacing 27 of the top 30 managers , removing the 2,000 least productive financial advisers , unifying all of the firm 's retail business under one name , streamlining technology systems , overhauling marketing and focusing on wealthier clients . # Mr. Gorman worked from Morgan Stanley 's offices in Purchase , N.Y . Once a week , Mr. Mack , who lives nearby in Rye , would go to the gym and then stop by for an 8:30 a.m. meeting with Mr. Gorman. # In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Gorman also lavished praise on his boss : in Mr. Mack 's office hangs a printed , signed and framed e-mail message from Mr. Gorman , richly complimenting Mr. Mack for his leadership during the financial crisis . # Such overt gestures have n't given Mr. Gorman the reputation of being a toady . Many around the office describe him as ' ' nice ' and ' ' decent . ' Or , as one of his senior colleagues puts it , Mr. Gorman is ' ' definitely not a slimeball. ' # After the trading losses in 2007 , Mr. Gorman became co-president . The firm also put him in charge of thinking about long-term strategy with its chief financial officer . During the crisis , Mr. Gorman argued forcefully for a big strategic shift , with an emphasis on cutting complex products and expanding retail brokerage services . # To that end , Mr. Gorman pushed Morgan Stanley to pay $2.75 billion last year to acquire a 51 percent stake in Smith Barney , the big brokerage firm owned by Citigroup , another struggling financial behemoth . Morgan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2014 . The takeover gives it about 18,000 financial advisers and one of the biggest wealth management businesses in the world . # According to Howard Chen , an analyst at Credit Suisse , history may decide that Morgan Stanley bought Smith Barney ' ' for a song . ' The deal was certainly transformative . The retail business now makes up 35 percent of Morgan Stanley 's total revenue ( compared with 57 percent for its traditional institutional business ) , up from about a quarter share before the deal . # WHATEVER its long-term merits , the deal did little to reverse Morgan Stanley 's sagging fortunes . Around the middle of last year , with the share price lagging , Mr. Mack confirmed previous plans to step down . Mr. Gorman won the race to succeed him , in part because the firm 's board , which voted unanimously for him , was impressed by his strategic abilities and work he had done turning around the retail business . # The board liked that Mr. Gorman wanted to strengthen Morgan Stanley 's institutional securities group and reduce risk-taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' We concluded that James was decisive , strategic and had knowledge of a range of the firm 's activities , ' says Mr. Kidder . ' ' We believed he was the kind of person who would build a strong and strategic team over time . ' # According to another person familiar with the board 's thinking , who requested anonymity because the deliberations were confidential , Mr. Gorman 's calm demeanor offered a marked and welcome break from Mr. Mack 's more volatile temperament . # Despite his embrace of plain-vanilla retail enterprises , Mr. Gorman says that the firm 's core business remains its investment banking and institutional sales and trading -- and that the company 's recovery wo n't be complete until those businesses are nursed back to health . To buttress its risk management capabilities , Morgan Stanley has started what it calls Project Phoenix , which will measure and monitor proper risk-return ratios across the company . # Some analysts still have concerns . Institutional Risk Analytics , a research firm , recently gave Morgan Stanley 's shares a negative rating ' ' because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of tangible common equity and failure to make any significant disclosure regarding off-balance-sheet exposures. ' # Morgan Stanley says that it has healthy levels of common equity and that it discloses details of its off-balance-sheet exposures . It points out that three other analysts upgraded their ratings of the firm this month . # Some analysts wonder whether Mr. Gorman has the investment banking and trading chops to rally the bank 's core institutional troops , or whether his resemblance to Mr. Purcell -- who also began his career at McKinsey and rose to prominence in retail brokerage -- may be too limiting . # ' ' I no more or less resemble Phil Purcell than any 5,000 people here , ' says Mr. Gorman . ' ' And a lot of people ran brokerages -- Sandy Weill , Jamie Dimon , David Komansky. ' # The money manager Barton Biggs , who spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley before leaving in 2003 to run his own company , says he thinks the mood at Morgan is upbeat . ' ' People respect Gorman as being a different person than John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mingler . He is not going to walk the trading floor , slapping backs . But he is a first-rate intellect and he impresses with his organization and his thoughtfulness. ' # STANDING in his office recently , Mr. Gorman flips through sheets of corporate contacts he has made since his McKinsey days . He describes the back-to-back breakfasts , coffees and dinners he will be having with hedge fund managers and corporate titans over the next few weeks . # ' ' This is a period of time when you are dealing with a lot of complicated constituencies -- regulators , shareholders , legislators , politicians , the media , ' he says . ' ' There are a lot of things in flux and you have to feel comfortable dealing with a lot of complexity , which I do . ' # As Mr. Gorman continues to get his stride , he will have Mr. Mack peering over his shoulder as chairman for at least the next two years . Mr. Mack says he 's looking forward to spending more time at his Tuscan vineyard and shows off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vegas , as well as other mementos from a 40-year career . ' ' I really like my new role , ' he says . ' ' I did n't come to work until 9:30 today ! ' # But some analysts wonder that if things turn sour , will Mr. Gorman find himself isolated in an institution where Mr. Mack 's constituency is still powerful ? # ' ' Listen , this would not work if I was n't his man , ' says Mr. Gorman . ' ' We have a terrific relationship . ' # On a recent afternoon , the two men posed in Mr. Gorman 's doorway , arms around each other 's shoulders , demonstrating their camaraderie . # ' ' We do this every day , ' says Mr. Gorman , joking , while Mr. Mack smiles beside him . # Mr. Gorman acknowledges , however , that the alternative -- fighting with Mr. Mack -- would be a terrifying prospect . # ' ' I would not box John , ' he says . ' ' He has big shoulders . ' # @ 
##4077976 I arrived early -- I 'm always early -- at a house in Chesterfield , Va. , a short drive from Richmond , down the Powhite Parkway . It was the 15th city I 'd been to promoting my new book , ' ' The Adderall Diaries . ' I had given a reading the night before at a home in a nearby town , and when I mentioned Chesterfield people made sour faces . But I go where I 'm invited . # The leaves were changing color , the lawns still green . The small house was on a street filled with similar houses and well-tended front yards . My host explained that she was a nurse at a hospital in Richmond , and Chesterfield was the closest place she could afford . She had just moved in , and there was n't much furniture , just 20 white folding chairs not yet arranged . # Soon 19 of her friends showed up , and we spread out into the living room and small kitchen . Many of them also worked at the hospital . One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real estate agent . What was most interesting to me was that none of them had ever been to a literary event . Several told me they were big readers , at least a book a week . But when I asked a few of them about their reading habits , they had n't heard of the authors who are famous in my world : Lorrie Moore , Roberto Bolano , Michael Chabon . This is most of America , I thought ; I 've stepped through the door . # I recently wrapped up a 33-city book tour . Originally , my publisher had a standard tour planned for me , bookstores in five large coastal cities . The early reviews were strong , and one friend , a successful author , encouraged me to do a larger tour . But the idea depressed me . ' ' The Adderall Diaries ' is my seventh book . I have my following , but I 'm not famous . I did n't want to travel thousands of miles to read to 10 people , sell four books , then spend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . And my publisher did n't have the money for that many hotel rooms anyway . # I decided to try something I hoped would be less lonely . Before my book came out , I had set up a lending library allowing anyone to receive a free review copy on the condition they forward it within a week to the next reader , at their own expense . ( Now that a majority of reviews are appearing on blogs and in Facebook notes , everyone is a reviewer . ) I asked if people wanted to hold an event in their homes . They had to promise 20 attendees . I would sleep on their couch . My publisher would pay for some of the airfare , and I would fund the rest by selling the books myself . # I had no idea what to expect . When you read in people 's homes you 're reading to a reflection of their world . In Lincoln , Neb. , I read in the home of Ember Schrag , a 25-year-old folk-rock musician . She plastered the town with fliers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20s and into rock ' n roll . In Las Vegas I read at Laurenn McCubbin 's house . She 's a painter , and her primary subjects are adult entertainers . Many people in attendance were either artists or sex workers or both . # The people who showed up for these events had usually never heard of me . They came because it was a party at their friend 's house and the friend promised to make those cupcakes they like or was calling in a favor . Nobody wants to give a bad party , and touring this way ensured there would be at least one person other than myself who would be embarrassed if no one showed up . # The readings mostly went very long , over an hour with questions , and people did n't leave . We were often up discussing until 1 in the morning . An important part of the book is my troubled relationship with my father and what I took to be his confession to murder in an unpublished memoir . ( I investigated and found no evidence of any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it . ) Following the reading , over a glass of wine or slice of cake or nothing at all , people told me about their own difficult relationships with family members , people they could n't forgive or who would n't forgive them . In a weird way the readings began to feel like an extension of the book . # At a reading last month in West Seattle , I sat in a chair in a corner . The attendees surrounded me on a large sectional sofa with extra seats . The host had stacked my books above the mantelpiece . Nobody asked about my writing process , or how to find an agent or a publisher . Unlike at every reading I 've done for every other book I 've written , there were no aspiring writers in attendance . One of the guests asked about my mother -- why is n't she a bigger part of the story ? I said she was very sick for five years and died when I was 13 , which is when I left home . # Reading in people 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these were people I 'd never met . They usually picked me up at the airport or bus station . Once I arrived I could n't really leave . Then I met their friends and I tried to sell them books , like Tupperware , one at a time . All together , I sold about 1,100 books ( not counting copies of my older books , which I was also selling ) at 73 events . Seven hundred of those were books I purchased wholesale , a few hundred more were sold by local booksellers invited to the readings . # One of the more obvious things I realized is that people with money buy a lot more books . They will buy books out of obligation , just to be polite , because you did a reading in their home , or for a signed souvenir of a fun evening . I did one of the best readings of my life to 40 college students and sold fewer than 10 books . Other nights , at fancier homes , I sold more books than there were people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home in Boston I read to seven people , six of them graduate students . During the discussion one of the students announced , ' ' You must be tired of talking about yourself . ' None of the students bought a book , and on the way out the same woman urged me to ' ' keep writing . ' # In Chesterfield , after an hour of getting to know one another , we set up the folding chairs and people sat politely in rows . They asked interesting questions about murder and confession and the moment the lie mixes with the truth like red and yellow paint , becoming orange , the original colors ceasing to exist . Afterward people went back to talking , grabbing another drink or a snack . Leaning against the kitchen counter , I thought to myself that they were n't a standard literary audience : they were better . # # 
##4077977 The police will invade 40 of the most violent slums in this city before the 2014 soccer World Cup being held in Brazil , with the goal of establishing a permanent policing presence in communities now controlled by well-armed drug gangs , Rio State officials say . # The plans include occupying Rocinha , one of the city 's largest and most fortified slums , in what crime experts here say could be a huge and bloody battle that could define the city 's efforts to squeeze out gangs that have plagued the city for three decades . # The campaign is an expansion of a police ' ' pacification program ' that began in late 2008 . It comes as Brazilian officials are feeling the weight of international scrutiny after being chosen to host both the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games . # The police forces , in particular , have been reeling from some embarrassing setbacks . # In October , just two weeks after Rio was awarded the Olympic Games , a weekend of bloody confrontations between rival drug factions left 12 dead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heavy-caliber weapons shot down their helicopter . The body of one young man was found crumpled in a grocery store shopping cart left on a busy street . # Then last month , Human Rights Watch released an extensive report detailing Rio 's history of extrajudicial killings by the police . The report said that a substantial portion of the 2,467 suspected ' ' resistance ' killings in Rio State in 2007 and 2008 were unlawful , and that police officers were rarely brought to justice in the slayings. # Human rights experts said they were concerned that the planned police invasions would result in many more summary killings by the police . # ' ' Rio needs to find a way to control not just its violent gangs , but also its police , ' said Daniel Wilkinson , the deputy director of the Americas for Human Rights Watch . ' ' If it tries to do one without the other , then this pacification program is almost certainly going to result in a blood bath . ' # The police say the pacification program is meant to bring order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ south and west of the city , where the bulk of the Olympic contests will be held . Heavily armed gangs control hundreds of neighborhoods in Rio and are largely responsible for the metropolitan region 's having one of the highest murder rates in the hemisphere , at nearly 35 for every 100,000 residents . # Rio State officials say they are focusing their efforts on the slums where gangs have the most dangerous guns , which allow them to terrorize residents and repel police incursions . # ' ' These 40 slums that we have chosen are the arms , legs , trunk and brains of drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro , ' said Dirceu Silviana , spokesman for the Secretariat of Public Security , which oversees the police in Rio . ' ' But the primary objective is not the drug trafficking , it 's to do away with weapons of war . ' # Rio officials say they will eventually expand the program to 100 slums , but would not give a timetable . For the next four years , at least , the plan is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rio officials say that part of the campaign is trying to reduce police lethality and that officers who choose to work in the slums are being given special human rights training and bonuses that nearly double the entry level police salary of about $620 a month . # Since starting the program in November 2008 , the Rio police have taken over nine communities totaling about 120,000 residents , officials said . That is just a small portion of the 600 or so slums that have serious problems with drug trafficking and militias ; the slums contain about one million people , Rio officials said . # The program involves placing a large police contingent in a slum area on a permanent basis to interact with residents and keep traffickers from reinvading and acting as a ' ' parallel power , ' said Sergio Cabral , the governor of Rio State . # Once they have occupied a slum , the police will handle security full time , avoiding the need for Rio 's special elite squad to make often violent incursions into the slums to try to root out traffickers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ' ' pacification ' police have been installed in small neighborhoods , like Dona Marta , which has about 6,000 residents . # ' ' The testimonials I have received from the people that have been freed from this parallel power are just incredible , ' Mr. Cabral said . ' ' We are now free from terrorism , they tell me . ' Finally , governor , I can sleep at night . ' # Mr. Silviana , the public security spokesman , said : ' ' The timing and decisions about which locations we will go into will depend on our ability to train new police officers . Each occupation is a learning experience . ' # Rio officials are adding 3,300 police officers this year , and at least 4,000 more in 2011 to Rio 's force of 45,000 . Nearly all of the new officers will be employed as peacekeepers in the slums , Mr. Silviana said . # Rio police officers are among the worst paid in Brazil , with some drug scouts in the slums earning more than new officers , according to Human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least double the salaries of the Rio police by the Olympic Games in 2016. # With international scrutiny rising , Mr. Cabral also recently reached out to Rudolph W. Giuliani , the former mayor of New York City . ' ' We are discussing the possibility of Giuliani consulting for Rio ' on security issues , Mr. Cabral said . # Expelling the drug gangs will require battles that could spill over into wealthier areas of Rio 's South Zone , which draws most of the city 's international tourists . # Last month , on the second day of the occupation of Pavao-Pavaozinho and Cantagalo , drug bandits responded with a series of terrorist attacks in Copacabana and Lagoa , forcing the police to send reinforcements . A bus was burned and grenades were detonated in busy areas of the neighborhoods , including Atlantic Avenue , a beachfront street , according to reports in the Rio newspaper O Dia. # Occupying Rocinha and nearby Vidigal , which together have an estimated 100,000 residents , will be a much greater challenge . Rocinha is high on a hill that overlooks critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ da Tijuca . It is a natural fortress under the control of a powerful drug gang . # ' ' The logistics are very bad , ' Mr. Silviana said. # # 
##4077978 ON a recent fall evening in Sarajevo , a crowd of art enthusiasts sipped drinks as one of Bosnia 's most respected artists and curators , Jusuf Hadzifejzovic , began his remarks at the opening of a new exhibition . Suddenly , the lights went out -- but he continued his speech in darkness , unfazed . Minutes later , a cleaning woman calmly pushed her cart laden with mops and detergents through the center of the audience . The speeches went on . # So goes a typical opening in Sarajevo , the Bosnian capital , where the contemporary art scene is in perpetual collision with everyday life . Yet somehow , out of the chaos of the city , the art survives . # ' ' All these things , I call ' bustling with reality , ' Mr. Hadzifejzovic said afterward . He sees the struggles of Sarajevo 's creative scene as a piece of living art itself : ' ' The whole thing , for me , it is like one work . ' # The gallery he started three years ago , Charlama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Skenderija , a dreary underground shopping mall that has seen better days . Though the mall was once a symbol of prosperity during the days of the former Yugoslavia -- the sporting facilities above the mall were a site for the Winter Olympics of 1984 -- many of its shops have gone out of business because of the economic downturn . # Mr. Hadzifejzovic saw opportunity in the growing number of empty shops , and persuaded the director of the mall to entrust around 40 of them to artists , free of charge , scattered among the remaining manicurists and bridal boutiques . Beginning in October , the mall began to show artists work as part of Mr. Hadzifejzovic 's Sub Dokumenta exhibition . The project , expected to involve artists from as far afield as New Zealand and Italy , will have its official opening in March ; the exhibition will continue through the end of the year . # The chance to see contemporary Balkan art on such a scale is increasingly rare in the city . Ars Aevi , a world-class contemporary art collection , can currently be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new building by the architect Renzo Piano to house the collection was scheduled to open in 2009 but awaits financing . And with the Bosnian government largely unsupportive and individual financial support hard to come by , young local artists scramble from project to project , space to space . # But other art sites do exist . Pierre Courtin , a French-born curator , runs the five-year-old Galerija 10m2 and its newly opened twin gallery , the Duplex/10m2 . As an exchange student visiting Bosnia , Mr. Courtin was struck by the fact that there was nowhere for his fellow art students to present their work . He came across a tiny shop for rent , and with a grant from the French Embassy , he and his partner Claire Dupont opened Galerija . Hidden down the back alley of yet another shopping center , this space is smaller than its name suggests -- more a location for experimentation than an actual gallery . # Mr. Courtin long had his eye on the larger , two-story building next door , vacant since the war . He scraped together money from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Duplex last February . While the Galerija has become an essential stepping-stone for lesser-known artists , ' ' the Duplex is more for artists in whom I am completely confident and convinced by their work , ' Mr. Courtin said . Minimalist in design , the Duplex is intentionally generic ; its identity lies in its content rather than in its architecture . # The Duplex and galleries like it are n't just filling a void for local artists , they are replacing public art that has largely disappeared following the postwar period . Daniel Premec , a young Bosnian sculptor participating in Sub Dokumenta ( his exhibition space sits just past Mr. Hadzifejzovic 's Charlama Depot ) and in coming shows at the Duplex , said that many public monuments had been taken down for political reasons following the breakup of Yugoslavia . ' ' Our town is very poor in public art , ' he said . He added that there 's been little consultation with local artists about the handful of new monuments erected to replace them . # There are , however , exceptions , including two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina , each by prominent Bosnian artists currently living overseas . A simple stone block by Braco Dimitrijevic bears a cryptic inscription in English : ' ' Under this stone there is a monument to the victims of the war and Cold War . ' Nearby , a Warholesque sculpture by Nebojsa Seric-Shoba takes the form of a giant can of beef -- an ambivalent critique of international aid . # These pieces are part of a project by the Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Arts , an organization that has worked to foster contemporary arts in Bosnia since the end of the war . Through the sculptures , ' ' we tackle this idea of erasing the past , ' said Asja Hafner , the center 's program coordinator and editor . There is continuing interest in this approach to collective memory , she added , across the Balkan regions , as well as in other Eastern European countries . # Selected artists will soon be invited to interact with the past in an entirely new way for a more ambitious project , planned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ARK Underground ( www.bijenale.ba ) . ( Mr. Hadzifejzovic is one of three curators for the event. ) # The site for the event , near the town of Konjic , a train ride of about an hour and a half from Sarajevo , directly references the city 's militaristic past : a bunker that was built to protect the Communist dictator Josip Broz Tito , along with his family and closest comrades , in the event of nuclear war . The shelter remained top secret until recent years , and visits are usually permitted only with authorization from the Bosnian Ministry of Defense . Local and international artists will produce their work onsite within the colossal labyrinth of rooms , more than 900 feet below ground level . # The biennale , which is being organized in cooperation with the Serbian Ministry of Culture and various Bosnian government organizations , has been named one of the most important coming cultural projects for Europe by the Council of Europe . But since the financing has yet to materialize , the project , like so much of the art scene in Sarajevo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GO # Charlama Depot Gallery , Centar Skenderija , Terezije ; ( 387-33 ) 203-178 . Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. , Monday to Saturday ( 9 a.m. for the Sub Dokumenta exhibition ) . # Galerija 10m2 and Duplex/10m2 , Stakleni Grad , Ferhadija 15 ; ( 387-63 ) 952-197 ; **30;23102;TOOLONG and www.duplex10m2.com . Both galleries are open 2 to 7 p.m. ( closed Wednesday and Sunday ) . # Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art , Obala Kulina Bana 22 ; ( 387-33 ) 665-304 ; www.scca.ba and www.pro.ba ; visits by appointment only . # Obala Meeting Point , Hamdije Kresevljakovica 13 , Skenderija ; ( 387-33 ) 668-186 . A cafe where mini-exhibitions are often on display ; video pieces by artists are sometimes screened in the adjacent cinema. # # 
##4077979 THE restaurant Veselka , in the East Village , has featured Ukrainian borscht on its menu , individual banana cream pies on its daily specials board , and , in 2008 , at the fourth table from the entrance , ' ' Etiquette , ' a performance piece in which the ticket holders were also the actors . Presented by the Foundry Theater and its artistic producer , Melanie Joseph , the work called for two people at a time to play the parts of a young woman and an elderly philosopher , with the dialogue fed to them through headphones . # However solipsistic it might have struck surrounding diners , the theater press loved it , tickets sold briskly , and , in what sounds like a terrible disappointment to Ms. Joseph , there were no walkouts . ' ' We have n't had any , ' she said , ' ' certainly not in a long time . ' # Not for ' ' The Race of the Ark Tattoo , ' by W. David Hancock , in 1998 , which unfolded in a flea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ' in 1997 , an a cappella oratorio in an invented language . Or for ' ' Open House , ' by Aaron Landsman , which in 2008 cycled audiences through living rooms across the city to comment on gentrification . Even ' ' The Provenance of Beauty , ' a guided bus tour of the South Bronx created by Ms. Joseph and the poet Claudia Rankine , became something of a sensation last fall . # ' ' We 've had people surprised to find themselves at a performance , ' Ms. Joseph , 54 , said recently over tea at Veselka , downstairs from her office . ' ' But they have n't walked out . ' # Now she is giving them another chance , with the solo performance pieces ' ' The Myopia ' and ' ' Plays , ' by David Greenspan , running through Feb. 7 . Relatively unusual for the Foundry , Mr. Greenspan and his works can be seen on an actual stage in a theater , the Atlantic Stage 2 on West 16th Street . The elaborate set for ' ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For ' ' Plays , ' Mr. Greenspan 's rendition of a lecture by Gertrude Stein on theater ( performed as a double bill with ' ' The Myopia ' on weekends ) , a different chair and a desk serve his purpose . That aim is essentially to single-handedly conjure a whirl of events and characters from a seated position , making the physical theater -- as with most other Foundry productions -- irrelevant . # Signs of critical and audience displeasure so far are not forthcoming : in The New York Times , Charles Isherwood called the production ' ' unique and strangely bewitching , ' and said a theatergoer would emerge ' ' feeling dazzled and disoriented , as if you 'd just seen a splashy Disney musical crossed with a Greek tragedy and a kitchen-sink drama , or maybe an evening of Samuel Beckett plays as staged by Florenz Ziegfeld. ' # To Mr. Greenspan , ' ' Melanie is a very active and supportive producer of works that are n't necessarily going to be seen otherwise . ' # Mr. Hancock recalled first meeting Ms. Joseph @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to come out to Coney Island U.S.A. in the middle of winter years ago for a piece of mine , ' he said , adding later , ' ' Part of her mission is not to just produce work but to produce artists . ' # Ms. Joseph grew up in Toronto , the daughter of a traveling bookseller father and a mother who used to instruct her , she said , that ' ' every minute is the time of your life . ' She warmed to theater only after studying political theory and literature at the University of Western Ontario , then toured with a company she started composed primarily of Inuit writers and performers adapting Inuit myths . Arriving in New York in 1982 -- the Foundry was n't established until 12 years later -- she materialized in and around Off Off Broadway spaces like Alice 's Upstairs and La Mama E.T.C. According to the author and playwright Carl Hancock Rux , she has had a following ever since . # ' ' We all love to imitate the way she calls everyone ' honey , ' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you right away , whether for five minutes or five years . She harks back to a kind of theater that is born out of ideas , and does it often in very nontraditional ways . Ideas burn in her and she never stops , whether people get it or not . ' # Ideas like commissioning a piece about value , economic and other , by Kirk Lynn , who wrote the Foundry 's ' ' Major Bang or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dirty Bomb , ' a post-9/11 burlesque of the nuclear age that Ms. Joseph situated in a subterranean spot at St. Ann 's Warehouse in 2006 . Susan Feldman , the St. Ann 's artistic director , said : ' ' She 's an activist , politically and also artistically . I wanted to work with her because she was onto a new generation of actors , directors and writers . ' # Yet in 1993 Ms. Joseph almost left the field , frustrated with a profession she said lacked a sense of commitment to community , and started on a pre-med @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , was the one who deterred her , pushing her until she had written a mission statement for a theater she could get behind . The Foundry name was among the first components , ' ' because a foundry is where you make things , ' Ms. Joseph said . But despite the architectural signal that sends , she insisted from the beginning that her theater too exist as an idea rather than a building , a permanent space demanding administration . # ' ' I wanted to make new work that could be whatever it wanted to be , ' Ms. Joseph said of the Foundry 's peripatetic quality , ' ' and every production a special event . ' # A spare approach has also kept the Foundry from running a deficit . Although hit by the economic downturn , it recently received a $50,000 stimulus grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a large two-year grant from the Mellon Foundation . # ' ' What Melanie is , is very inclusive , ' Mr. Greenspan said . Several times a year since its inception , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conferences and dialogues on topics like the global city , gentrification , health care and education . # Sometimes theater pieces have sprung from those collective conversations , sometimes not , but the point , Ms. Joseph explained , is to ' ' take people out of the art world and a perspective it 's easy to get stuck in . ' Every Thanksgiving week , the Foundry hosts Free Range , an event that brings together farmers , theater artists , neighborhood friends and invited guests to cook , eat and perform . # ' ' I do n't believe theater can change the world , ' she said . ' ' People can -- through rigorously created art that can reveal to those watching what their politics are and through an interrogation of ideas that massages empathy , the place where all great politics comes from . ' # The evening before , she observed a run-through of ' ' The Myopia . ' Toward the end a father , played by Mr. Greenspan , tells a daughter , played by Mr. Greenspan , why she feels sad , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Ms. Joseph started to cry . # ' ' It was for that character , ' she said , ' ' and because this play is such a visceral discussion of the act of experiencing theater. ' # She did n't walk out . # # 
##4078050 FRANKFURT -- It used to be easy to sum up the way European business executives viewed exchange rates : a strong dollar was good ; a strong euro was bad . # Most still think that , but as the euro glides down from the peak of more than $1.50 it reached in November , trading on Tuesday at $1.37 , some problems are emerging that complicate the picture . # Yes , the weaker euro is good for European exporters . It makes it easier for their cars , machinery and beer to compete on price abroad and makes every sale to the United States -- and to countries like China whose currencies are closely tied to the dollar -- more valuable in euros. # The weakening euro also is good news for Greece , Spain and Portugal , which are suffering from excessive trade deficits and struggling to become more competitive in world markets . # ' ' I have n't heard of anybody who is sad about it , ' said Ralph Wiechers , the chief economist of the German Engineering Federation , an industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other capital goods . # But there is also a range of negative effects . The cost of oil and other raw materials priced in dollars is rising . Consumer prices could come under pressure because goods imported from outside Europe become more expensive in euro terms . # More important , there is a queasy feeling that the decline of the euro makes an uncomfortable statement about Europe 's chronic tendency to underperform the United States in economic growth . # The euro 's decline reflects the harsh verdict of investors on the Greek debt crisis and the monetary union 's inability to insure that its members adhere to basic principles of fiscal prudence . # ' ' It 's more of a euro weakness than a dollar strength , ' said Ulf Schneider , chief executive of Fresenius , a German health care company . ' ' The whole world is watching , and there is some doubt about the euro . ' # The euro has bounced back from its recent low of about $1.35 in February , reflecting more optimism that Greece is taking decisive steps to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to $1.40 or so is possible over the next few weeks as investors who bet against the euro unwind their positions , currency analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt said . # On Monday , the euro slipped against the dollar to $1.3672 in late trading in New York amid uncertainty about whether European economic ministers meeting in Brussels would figure out a way to help Greece while maintaining pressure on Greek leaders to reduce their deficit . Those concerns subsided somewhat on Tuesday after Standard &amp; Poor 's announced that it was taking Greece off its negative credit watch , lowering the threat of a downgrade . The euro rebounded to $1.3756. # Over the next year or so , analysts say , the euro is likely to continue declining as United States growth accelerates more quickly than Europe 's . And the dollar may get an extra push from the Federal Reserve , which is expected to raise official interest rates faster than the European Central Bank will . Along with brisker United States growth , higher interest rates will make it more attractive for investors to own dollar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raise late this year , and then move more quickly , ' said Antje Praefcke , a senior foreign exchange strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt , who predicts the euro will fall to $1.20 by the end of the year . ' ' The E.C.B. is n't expected to raise rates until next year and then move slowly . ' # These days , though , what may matter most to businesses is not the absolute value of the euro but its stability . Above all , European business leaders hope the euro will avoid any sudden moves . # ' ' Companies plan a year to 18 months ahead , ' Ms. Praefcke said . ' ' If there are very strong currency movements , companies do n't have time to react and hedge . ' # The last two years have been a roller-coaster ride . After climbing fairly steadily for more than two years , the euro peaked near $1.60 in July 2008 . But amid the financial crisis , the euro -- and most other major currencies -- suffered a series of violent swings . The euro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several more times before reaching the recent peak of more than $1.50 in December . # ' ' More important than the absolute level is the amount of volatility you see and how fast these swings are happening , ' Mr. Schneider of Fresenius said . Last year , he said , the swings were ' ' a little too fast for what a normal company is set up to adjust to . ' # Big moves by the dollar , euro and yen also sent shock waves through less widely circulated currencies in eastern Europe or Asia . The volatility was expensive for exporters like Volkswagen , which suffered 1.2 billion euros ( about $1.65 billion ) in costs associated with exchange-rate fluctuations by the Russian ruble and other currencies in 2009 , analysts at UniCredit said in a note . # ' ' As these currencies are stabilizing , a significantly lower amount can be expected in 2010 , ' wrote Christian Aust , an analyst at UniCredit in Munich . # Heineken , the Dutch brewer , also suffered from the steep devaluations in emerging market currencies . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million euros from 2009 revenue , Heineken said in February . By contrast , a weaker dollar in comparison to 2008 cut revenue by a relatively small 17 million euros , according to the company , which is based in Amsterdam . # Companies have made strenuous efforts in the last decade to insulate themselves from currency shocks . It is routine even for smaller companies to hedge on financial markets , insuring themselves against future exchange rate movements . In addition , firms like Daimler , BMW or the software maker SAP have expanded operations in the United States to match production costs with sales . # For many companies , currency swings are fairly far down on the list of things that keep their managers up at night . # ' ' We do n't see the currency situation as anything very dramatic , ' said Stefan Ingildsen , vice president for finance and investor relations at the William Demant Holding Group , a Danish company whose products include Oticon hearing aids . Denmark is not a member of the euro zone , but the Danish krone closely tracks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem surprising considering that the company gets 35 percent of its sales from the United States and makes most of its products in Europe . But the company buffers itself against dollar fluctuations by purchasing most of its components in China from suppliers that take payment in dollars , a form of so-called natural hedging . # As a result , the stronger dollar -- which has also risen against the Danish krone -- will add only 1 to 2 percent to operating profit in 2010 , Mr. Ingildsen said . # Even rising energy prices are not unambiguously bad for European companies . Costly oil plays to Europe 's strengths in energy-saving technology , spurring demand for wind energy produced by Iberdrola Renovables of Spain or wind turbines made by Siemens or Vestas in Denmark . # Mr. Wiechers , the machinery industry economist , said , ' ' It 's a chance to succeed on the market with innovative products . ' ' # # 
##4078052 Generating 20 percent of America 's electricity with wind , as recent studies proposed , would require building up to 22,000 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines . But the huge towers and unsightly tree-cutting that these projects require have provoked intense public opposition . # Recently , though , some companies are finding a remarkably simple answer to that political problem . They are putting power lines under water , in a string of projects that has so far provoked only token opposition from environmentalists and virtually no reaction from the larger public . # ' ' The fish do n't vote , ' said Edward M. Stern , president of PowerBridge , a company that built a 65-mile offshore cable from New Jersey to Long Island and is working on two more . # The projects have even drawn cautious enthusiasm from some environmental groups that say the new power lines serve their goal of getting the United States to use more renewable power . # ' ' Environmentalists need to be open-minded to technology improvements , and looking at the big picture , ' said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York environmental group focused on the Hudson River . # Mr. Musegaas 's open-mindedness will soon be put to the test , because Transmission Developers , a Toronto company , is proposing to use the Hudson for the most ambitious underwater transmission project yet . Beginning north of the Canadian border , a 370-mile line would run along the bottom of Lake Champlain , down the bed of the Hudson all the way to New York City . It would continue under Long Island Sound to Connecticut . # The project sponsors have only recently begun seeking the numerous permits they need , but if built , it would be one of the longest submarine power cables in the world . It would bring hydroelectricity to the power-thirsty New York City market . It would also break a stalemate ; New York has not had a major new overhead power line in 20 years . # If Transmission Developers succeeds with such an ambitious project , other transmission developers are likely to study the underwater strategy to figure out just how far they can take it . Would power lines crossing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used to move renewable power from the windy Great Plains to cities like Chicago ? # The cost of putting a cable under water can be lower than burying cables on land , because workers can lay the cables from giant reels , allowing stretches of more than a mile with no splices . The strategy is limited , of course , by the availability of rivers and lakes -- they do not go everywhere power developers would like to run new lines . In fact , many of the country 's rivers run north or south , whereas much of the country 's power must move east or west . # And underwater lines are still more expensive than lines on transmission towers . Mr. Stern 's 65-mile cable cost about $600 million , and a 53-mile cable under San Francisco Bay cost about $505 million . Much of the cost in each case is to transform the electricity to direct current , a form that is easier to use in buried cables . Standard lines hung on towers run from $1 million to $4 million a mile , depending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are built , the higher costs would have a small impact on electric bills . # Still , the underwater approach solves some intractable problems . In San Francisco , for example , old power plants that burn natural gas are about to be retired because a new transmission company has succeeded in running a line 33 miles across the San Francisco Bay . # Mr. Stern said his company 's Neptune Cable , which runs from Sayreville , N.J. , to Levittown , N.Y. , on Long Island , now carries 22 percent of Long Island 's electricity . His company is trying to complete a deal for a cable that would run from Ridgefield , N.J. , to a Consolidated Edison substation on West 49th Street in Manhattan . # Those two cables were not motivated primarily by environmental goals -- they are meant to connect cheap generation to areas where power prices are high . Mr. Stern 's company , PowerBridge , is now considering two renewable energy projects , however . One cable would connect proposed wind farms on the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Lanai to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind power from Maine along the Atlantic coast to Boston . # Laying submarine cables can present some environmental problems , like stirring up industrial chemicals resting on the bottoms of lakes or rivers . The Champlain-Hudson cable would detour down a railroad right-of-way to avoid one particularly polluted stretch of the Hudson . And the cables must avoid spawning areas for some species of fish . # The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club opposed the cable that would cross the Hudson from northern New Jersey because , among other reasons , the club thought it would stimulate construction of traditional transmission lines farther west , to bring in power to make up for what was being exported to New York . And it does not like power from dams in Canada . # ' ' Frankly , my dear , I do n't want a dam , ' said Jeff Tittel , the chapter 's director . # But the opposition was unsuccessful . In some cases , power developers are trying to enlist support from environmental groups in the early stages of their underwater projects . # @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of transmission favored by Thomas Edison but mostly rejected in the late 1800s in favor of alternating current , the kind of electricity now used to run most appliances . But alternating-current lines are hard to bury , because an interaction between the current and the cable casing drives up voltage to unwanted levels . # Direct-current transmission is also undergoing a modest revival on land , because over long distances , its line losses are smaller , and flows are easier to control . Two recent proposals for a centrally planned overhaul of the North American electric grid called for heavy use of direct current . # New technology offered by two European companies , Siemens and ABB , has lowered the cost for some direct current projects , and shrunk the size of the terminals where alternating current is converted to direct current and back , a crucial consideration in urban projects . # Developers and power companies are recognizing that the expense of underwater lines may be worth it if it helps them overcome political opposition . # Donald G. Jessome , the president of Transmission Developers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said of overhead power lines , ' ' If you ca n't get them built , because the communities you want to serve do n't want them , then in our opinion they are infinitely expensive . ' # # 
##4078053 AMONG the many wonderful , distinctive red wines in the world , those from the Loire Valley may well get the least respect in proportion to their superb quality . # It does little good to wonder why . That this has been true for many years , despite the occasional ravings of committed Loire lovers , breeds a certain fatalistic acceptance . # So let 's concede that although we may speak warmly and openly here about the many reasons to love Loire reds , they will nonetheless remain our little secret . Regardless of the pleasure they offer , and the fact that they are relatively inexpensive , we need not worry that they will suddenly be in great demand . Not even the most curious newcomers are likely to cross the moat of public indifference to see what all the bargains are about . # Their loss . Personally , I believe Loire reds are always a top choice regardless of the occasion . For large gatherings , I can think of no better combination of quality and value than gamays from the Touraine region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beaujolais , are lively and fresh yet with a mineral earthiness that makes them interesting . # Wines made from cot , as malbec is called along the Loire , are another good choice -- my favorite malbecs all seem to come from the Loire , rather than from the regions that claim malbec as their own : Cahors in southwestern France , and Argentina . # I have n't even mentioned the odds and ends that sometimes wash up on these shores , a Loire pinot noir , say ; or a pineau d'Aunis , an ancient grape that can be exceptional ; or the wonderful whites , or even the most significant red grape in the Loire , cabernet franc . # The Loire 's most widely available reds are made from cabernet franc , including the best , most expensive and perhaps the longest-lived Loire reds , the Saumur-Champignys from Clos Rougeard . The Clos Rougeards are hard to find , though not impossible . But wines from Chinon and Bourgueil , the two biggest red wine appellations in the Touraine region of the Loire ? No problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wine list . Then they become scarce . # I 've often thought that I could gauge certain wine lists by whether they include some good Loire reds . The wines are versatile with all sorts of foods , including , surprisingly , Asian cuisines . The key , of course , is whether they are good . # As with every other region , the Loire produces plenty of wines that are harmless , incompetent or just plain cynical , which is what happens when winemakers who know better settle for harmless or incompetent . # In a quest of the good , the wine panel recently tasted 20 bottles from Chinon and Bourgueil . For the tasting , Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Raj Vaidya , head sommelier at Daniel , and Bernard Sun , beverage director for Jean-Georges Management . # Let me get the usual qualifications out of the way . A tasting of 20 bottles from a region like the Loire is by no means all-encompassing . It 's a snapshot of what 's available . Our favorites are all very good wines , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region has to offer . # It 's generally easier to find Chinons than Bourgueils , and that was reflected in our lineup , which included 15 Chinons and just 5 Bourgueils . We arbitrarily did not include wines from the smaller appellation of St.-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil . We also sought out the most recent vintages , largely 2007 and 2006 . Neither was considered a particularly good vintage , but we found plenty of enjoyable wines . # Those we liked best were lively , balanced , nuanced and complex , with the sort of lithe agility that makes them great with food . We tended to reject those that seemed to strive for power at the expense of a sense of place , or those that seemed out of balance . # Our favorite was a Bourgueil , the 2007 Domaine de la Butte , a fairly new domaine started by Jacky Blot , a vigneron who made his name with chenin blancs at Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Montlouis . The Pied de la Butte cuvee , intended for early drinking , was savory and delicious , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used to be the reds of choice in so many Paris bistros. # Our No. 2 wine was also a Bourgueil , the ' 07 Nuits d'Ivresse from Catherine and Pierre Breton , who make a range of excellent cabernet francs from several Loire appellations . I loved its freshness and earthy complexity . Its easy drinkability , perhaps , explains its name , Nuits d'Ivresse , or drunken nights . Nuits d'Ivresse is also noteworthy because it is made with only the tiniest amount of sulfur , a stabilizer , so it requires careful shipping and storage in cool conditions . # Like the Bretons , Bernard Baudry , who made the 2008 Chinon Les Granges , our No. 4 wine , produces lovely cuvees . Les Granges is his most basic , but it nonetheless offered attractively funky aromas and a smoky complexity . # By coincidence , Bernard Baudry and his son , Matthieu , also made our No. 3 wine , the lively , pure 2006 Chinon Cuvee des Tireaux from Olek-Mery . The two estates are neighbors , and when the couple who ran Olek-Mery died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wines . # While you could easily find more expensive Loire cuvees , including some from Breton and Baudry , it seems remarkable to me how much value these wines offer for the price . At just $16 , the Domaine de la Butte was our best value in the tasting . But four of our top five wines were under $20 and the fifth was just $22. # As I suggested , all the praise in the world is unlikely to win much of a new audience for these wines . They seem to rebuff attention inherently . For people who already know and love them , and who revel in their easy availability , that 's good news . Even better , the Loire is just the leading edge of a vast array of wines that are delicious and moderately priced , yet will always be considered marginal , idiosyncratic or exotic . # Tasting Report : Chinon and Bourgueil , Two Reds That Plead ' Drink Us # BEST VALUE # Domaine de la Butte Bourgueil # $16 # ( Three Stars ) # La Pied de @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with flavors of raspberries , herbs and minerals . ( Adventures in Wine , Daly City , Calif. ) # Catherine &amp; Pierre Breton Bourgueil # $22 # ( Three Stars ) # Nuits d'Ivresse 2007 # Delicious smoky fruit , earth and mineral flavors , with herbal accents . ( Louis/Dressner Selections , New York ) # Olek-Mery Chinon Cuvee des Tireaux 2006 # $19 # 1/2 ( Two and a Half Stars ) # Fresh and lively with rich aromas and flavors of red fruits and earth . ( Rosenthal Wine Merchant , New York ) # Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2008 # $17 # 1/2 ( Two and a Half Stars ) # Funky and complex , with smoky , earthy fruit and herbal flavors. # ( Louis/Dressner Selections ) # Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Bourgueil # $15 # ( Two Stars ) # Vieilles Vignes 2006 # Straightforward yet enticing with sedate flavors of red fruit , spices and minerals . ( Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant , Berkeley , Calif. ) # Philippe Alliet Chinon Vieilles Vignes 2007 # $30 # ( Two Stars ) # @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Michael Skurnik Wines/A Daniel Johnnes Selection , Syosset , N.Y. ) # Couly-Dutheil Chinon # $18 # ( Two Stars ) # Baronnie Madeleine 2007 # Rich and saturated with plummy fruit flavors. # ( Frank-Lin International , San Jose , Calif. ) # Domaine de Pallus Chinon # $20 # ( Two Stars ) # Les Pensees de Paullus 2006 # Rich texture , with floral aromas and rounded , powerful fruit flavors. # ( The Rare Wine Company , Vineburg , Calif. ) # Jean-Maurice Raffault Chinon # $26 # ( Two Stars ) # Clos des Capucins 2006 # Complex flavors of fruit , tobacco and spice with a dollop of oak . ( V.O.S. Selections , New York ) # Charles Joguet Chinon # $30 # ( Two Stars ) # Les Varennes du Grand Clos 2006 # Rich and savory but a bit out of balance . # ( Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant ) # Recipe : Stir-Fried Duck With Mushrooms and Broccolini # The last time I was in Chinon , I had lunch at a charming restaurant , Au Plaisir Gourmand . The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who valued indulgence at the table . We began with andouilles ( tripe sausages ) and continued with lievre a la royale ( hare stuffed with foie gras ) , as we poured more than one bottle of Chinon . I have never made either dish . But with these wines I still want something bold , earthy and luscious . Did someone say Asian ? Starting with duck breast , sliced thick enough to be succulent in a stir-fry , I added mushrooms , broccolini and musky oyster sauce . Unless you worship at the table of Rabelais , the recipe is more than ample for two . # Stir-Fry Duck With Mushrooms and Broccolini # 1 magret duck breast # 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch # 1 teaspoon sugar # 1 teaspoon rice vinegar # 2 teaspoons soy sauce # 1 teaspoon Chinese oyster sauce # 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil # 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil # 2 cloves garlic , peeled and slivered # 11-inch piece ginger , peeled and slivered # 1 1/2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns # 6 ounces shiitake mushrooms , stemmed and sliced # Salt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brown rice , for serving . # 1 . Peel skin and fat from duck . Discard or reserve for another use . Slice duck across the grain , # 1/2-inch thick . Mix cornstarch , half the sugar , rice vinegar and half the soy sauce in a medium-size bowl . Add duck and turn to coat . Set aside 15 minutes . Mix remaining sugar and soy sauce with oyster sauce and sesame oil . # 2 . Place wok or skillet on high heat , add peanut oil , then duck . Stir-fry one minute . Transfer to a dish . Reduce heat to medium . Add garlic , ginger and peppercorns and stir . Add mushrooms , sprinkle lightly with salt , and stir-fry until wilted and shiny . Add broccolini and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes , until starting to soften . # 3 . Increase heat and return duck to pan . Stir-fry another minute or so , until duck starts to firm up . Add oyster sauce mixture and stir . Serve with brown rice alongside . # Yield : 2 to 3 servings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 