Friday's Notes

Louis Menand,"The Ph. D. Problem," Harvard Magazine, November/December, argues for a change in the professionalization of academic people.

Jenna Weissman Joselit,"Founding Father," Tablet, 5 November, reviews Bruce Feiler's America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story.

Michael Dirda,"Beneath a host of characters lay a writer akin to Shakespeare," Washington Post, 5 November, reviews Michael Slater's Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing.

Melanie Kirkpatrick,"China's Mystery Lady," WSJ, 3 November, reviews Hannah Pakula's The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China.

Manan Ahmed,"Start a war," National, 5 November, argues that, in Pakistan,"the dysfunctional state remains its own worst enemy."