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			<copyright>knopfnotes 2006</copyright>
			<ttl>120</ttl>
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				<title>Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Ponder Universal Truth</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/eat-drink-be-merry-and-ponder-universal-truth</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I recently read a book by Dr. William Irvine called “On Desire:  Why We Want What We Want.” I was engaged by the front half of the book, in particular the sections dealing with brain function and evolutionary biology. Overall. I did have some trouble with the tidy separation of emotion and intellect. I think the line is a lot blurrier than he suggests, though his underlying thesis is useful in explaining how the brain operates as much as an aggregation of specialized functions as a unified system. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:54:48 -0500</pubDate>
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				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>For Whom the Bottle Tolls</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/for-whom-the-bottle-tolls</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I got into a bunch of trouble once by noting that many successful 20th century writers were alcoholics. I’m not an expert on this subject by any means. And this concept certainly didn’t originate with me. I’d merely observed what others have observed over a lifetime of reading good writers (and mediocre writers) and many of their biographies. I don’t know if there are enough academic studies to verify the link between writers and excessive drinking, but I once read a book by a professor who took a whack at the subject. His name was Goodwin, and here’s a quote from a review of his book: ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:13:17 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/for-whom-the-bottle-tolls</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>In Defense of Free Markets</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/duplicate-of-the-dead</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ Winston Churchill, a favorite of mine, said, “… democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” I contend the same about free-market capitalism.   ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:53:18 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/duplicate-of-the-dead</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>The Dead</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/the-dead</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ The Last Paragraph from “The Dead” by James Joyce

Candidate for best piece of fiction in English, though it helps to read the whole novella. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:40:51 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/the-dead</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>As to technical specifications, trust but verify. </title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/as-to-technical-specifications-trust-but-verify</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ There’s a reason why most scientific breakthroughs and spectacular fatal accidents are accomplished by people under 30. It’s because young people just don’t know enough not to take crazy risks.  ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:48:53 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/as-to-technical-specifications-trust-but-verify</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Crime fiction as literature.</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/crime-fiction-as-literature</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I offer two books categorized as crime fiction, yet undeniably literary in the quality of their composition, depth of character development and lyrical prose:  “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow and “Mystic River” by Dennis Lehane. I’m sure there are others, since as a reader I’ve barely scratched the surface of the mystery and thriller genres. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:08:32 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/crime-fiction-as-literature</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>What Madison Avenue Can Teach You About Writing Better Dialogue</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/what-madison-avenue-can-teach-you-about-writing-better-dialogue</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I’d already spent about 30 years in ad agencies writing copy before my first novel was published. I’m often asked if copywriting benefitted my fiction, and I always say yes, in every way possible. This is particularly true as it relates to dialogue.   ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:51:11 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/what-madison-avenue-can-teach-you-about-writing-better-dialogue</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Accepting Imperfection</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/accepting-imperfection</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the book and lyrics for many famous musicals, including “Oklahoma!,” “South Pacific,” “The King and I” and “The Sound of Music.” He also wrote the following essay. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:08:56 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/accepting-imperfection</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>A Tale of Two Worlds.</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-worlds</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ It’s a little odd to live in two different places, especially when they’re four and a half hours apart. When people hear Mary and I commute between Avon, Connecticut and Southampton, New York, and have been doing this nearly every week, year-round, since 1992, the usual reaction is, “What, are you nuts?” ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:34:34 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-worlds</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Why, of course. (I think.) </title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/why-of-course.-i-think</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I read a book called “On Being Certain” by Richard Burton (a college professor at Yale, not the dead actor) on a plane ride back from Paris recently, an environment that always encourages freedom of thought. I’m a voracious consumer of laymen’s books on recent advances in neuroscience, so I was familiar with all the authors he noted (including Stephen Jay Gould – another favorite of mine.) I’m also interested in physics, in particular quantum mechanics. And chaos theory.  ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:12:08 -0500</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/why-of-course.-i-think</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Stupidest Idea So Far This Year</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/stupidest-idea-so-far-this-year</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ There has been talk, and some in the media have taken it seriously, that certain people would be better off not getting a college degree. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:44:18 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/stupidest-idea-so-far-this-year</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Striving for the Great American 30 Second Spot</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/striving-for-the-great-american-30-second-spot</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ A guy writing a book for aspiring writers recently asked me this question: “Did your experience in advertising benefit your (fiction) writing in any way?” ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:32:44 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/striving-for-the-great-american-30-second-spot</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>In the Eyes, and Wallets, of the Beholder</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/in-the-eyes-and-wallets-of-the-beholder</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I often puzzle over the chasm that exists between the quality of popular artistic success and intrinsic quality. Of course, intrinsic quality is a subjective thing, though you can somewhat rely on a consensus among appreciators of a particular art form to generalize what is good and what is lacking in some critical way.   ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:22:06 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/in-the-eyes-and-wallets-of-the-beholder</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Writer Writes About People Writing</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/writer-writes-about-people-writing</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ Somebody once said – I used to think it was Ernest Hemingway, but now I’m not sure – “Writers are people who write.” ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:12:33 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/writer-writes-about-people-writing</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>To Quote...</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/to-quote</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ It’s very hard for me to remember song lyrics, famous quotes or jokes. But a few sentences from fiction (and the press) have stuck in my head, which either tells you something about the sentences, or my head: ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:28:26 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/to-quote</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Made You Blink</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/made-you-blink</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ If you work in the communications business, and you haven’t read “Blink” yet by Malcolm Gladwell, you better think about grabbing a copy to take along on vacation. Gladwell may have coined a contemporary term with “The Tipping Point,” a very good book, but for my money “Blink” offers even more potent observations on brain function, ones that are highly relevant to what we do around here to make a living. ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:01:16 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/made-you-blink</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>When a Man Writes a Woman</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/when-a-man-writes-a-woman</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ What kind of women do we meet in a glitzy landscape of ambition, greed, heroism and occasional murder and mayhem?

 ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 05 May 2011 15:05:41 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/when-a-man-writes-a-woman</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>What I Know Now</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/what-i-know-now</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I was caught completely off guard by the financial crisis. I don’t care if Nobel Laureates, Chairmen of the Federal Reserve and Harvard economists were also fooled; it still made me feel like a putz. Though I do have several excuses, none very good.  ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:20:23 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/what-i-know-now</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Never Give In To Lazy Fact Checkers</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/never-give-in-to-lazy-fact-checkers</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I wonder if Winston Churchill would be amused or annoyed if he knew of all the brilliant quotes and witticisms attributed to him that he never actually wrote or said.  ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:44:46 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/never-give-in-to-lazy-fact-checkers</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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				<title>Nanny Cars</title>
				<link>http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/nanny-cars</link>
				<description><![CDATA[ I used to think the car I drive every day was overly protective. It won’t let me start up until the clutch is in and my foot is on the brake. If I don’t put on my seatbelt, it emits a robotic and relentless chime that no normal human being can resist. I think it’s based on similar techniques banned by the Army Field Manual on abusive interrogation. After exceeding a certain speed, all the doors lock. During the course of an average trip, a plaintive chime pipes up to warn me of a whole host of impending catastrophes, such as running out of gas, losing air pressure in the tires, missing an upcoming service call or inadvertently switching from NPR to talk radio.  ]]></description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:07:57 -0400</pubDate>
				<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.knopfnotes.com/articles/nanny-cars</guid>
				<dc:creator>Chris Knopf</dc:creator>
				
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