Instead of being in Rome for the holidays, author James Atlas and his family found themselves stranded at Newark Airport—and contemplating what happened to our civilization.
James Atlas is the president of Atlas & Co. and founder of the Penguin Lives series. His books include Bellow: A Biography and the memoir My Life in the Middle Ages, and his biography of Delmore Schwartz was nominated for the National Book Award.
I knew the recession had hit when the hot dog vendors starting shouting at me.