{"id":3207,"date":"2017-01-16T08:36:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T13:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/tatar\/?p=3207"},"modified":"2017-01-16T12:19:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T17:19:57","slug":"parting-gift-from-a-president-who-has-turned-bookish-into-a-compliment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/tatar\/2017\/01\/16\/parting-gift-from-a-president-who-has-turned-bookish-into-a-compliment\/","title":{"rendered":"Classiest Valediction Ever and an Ode to the Power of Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today’s\u00a0New York Times<\/em> gives us the best possible valediction for the best possible President. \u00a0There are so many dense golden nuggets of wisdom in both the article about Obama’s reading and the transcript of the interview with him that it’s something of a challenge to choose. \u00a0All the things I’ve believed about the\u00a0radiantly mysterious power of stories to promote curiosity, build bridges, foster empathy, and offer escapes into opportunity are stated here in ways that remind us of just how fortunate we were to have eight years of a President who was thoughtful, compassionate, judicious, and deeply intellectual.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s polarized environment, where the internet has let people increasingly retreat to their own silos (talking only to like-minded folks, who amplify their certainties and biases), the president sees novels and other art (like the musical \u201cHamilton\u201d) as providing a kind of bridge that might span usual divides and \u201ca reminder of the truths under the surface of what we argue about every day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He points out, for instance, that the fiction of Junot D\u00edaz and Jhumpa Lahiri speak \u201cto a very particular contemporary immigration experience,\u201d but at the same time tell stories about \u201clonging for this better place but also feeling displaced\u201d \u2014 a theme central to much of American literature, and not unlike books by Philip Roth and Saul Bellow that are \u201csteeped with this sense of being an outsider, longing to get in, not sure what you\u2019re giving up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. Obama says he is hoping to eventually use his presidential center website \u201cto widen the audience for good books\u201d \u2014 something he\u2019s already done with regular lists of book recommendations \u2014 and then encourage a public \u201cconversation about books.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time,\u201d he says, \u201cwhen so much of our politics is trying to manage this clash of cultures brought about by globalization and technology and migration, the role of stories to unify \u2014 as opposed to divide, to engage rather than to marginalize \u2014 is more important than ever.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n