n+1 Issue 2: Happiness

The aftermath of Bush’s second election. Theory after the fall, literary readings. Elif Batuman’s “Babel in California,” Mark Greif’s “Meaning of Life,” Keith Gessen’s “Vice-President’s Daughter,” Marco Roth’s “Last Cigarettes,” Benjamin Kunkel on J. M. Coetzee, George Scialabba’s “Farewell, Hitch.” Plus Rachel Sherman’s “The Reaper” and Alexander Kluge.