Christopher Orlet

Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From the Company Man, Family Dinners, and the Affluent Society to the Home Office, Blackberry Moms, and Economic Anxiety by Dalton Conley (Pantheon, 221 pages, $24) Dalton Conley is best known as the author of…

I have only a dim memory of my college speech class, but I recall one speech rather clearly. A male student demonstrated how to tie a Windsor knot using the rabbit-hole technique. While this seemed more like an in-store demonstration…

Last week it was reported that debt-ridden Muzak Holdings LLC had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This was no doubt a blow to the company’s 1,250 employees in Fort Mill, S.C., especially at a time when jobs are scarce….

Less than a month into the Obama Administration and there is already talk of enlarging the president’s cabinet — and I don’t mean his liquor cabinet. Among the proposed new posts are a Secretary of Peace and a Secretary of…

Here in the Middle West deer and turkey seasons have come and gone and the season of the duck is winding down. Thus begins the long dark winter of man’s soul, a dreary time with few opportunities to disappear for…

I will admit it — I have three Andrew Wyeth prints in my home. Whether this is proof of my philistinism, my penury, or what, I leave others to judge. At the time of his death at 91 last week,…

Here we go again. Another corrupt Chicago politician hogging all the headlines. It seems like every time you open a newspaper (or surf the Internet) some columnist is snootily recounting Chicago’s colorful past as a Shangri-la of corruption and political…

Ever wonder why men are so much better than women when it comes to retaining generally useless information? I don’t know this for a fact; it’s just my impression. Whenever my girlfriend’s brother comes to town we’ll often visit a…