"‘Black’ and ‘criminal’ are as wedded in America as ‘star’ and ‘spangled.’ Muhammad’s book traces these ideas to the late 19th century, when racist policies led to the disproportionate arrest and incarceration of blacks, igniting urban whites’ fears and bequeathing tenaciously racist stereotypes."

"I loved this film before I knew who Stanley Kubrick was. Sterling Hayden’s portrayal of the ill-fated criminal is majestic and psychopathic. The mechanics of the heist are brilliant, but Kubrick lets us see how it’s only the flaws in the characters that bring it down."

"If you think 700 pages on the many ways in which exceptional kids (trans, Downs, autistic, Deaf, criminal, genius) can stretch their families’ conception of love doesn’t sound like summertime reading, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity will teach you otherwise."