Three Good Reads

We figure that on this lazy holiday weekend, you might have a bit of extra time to read. So here are three pieces that we think are quite worth your time. An eminent architecture critic argues in the Wall Street Journal that some architects are trying too hard to create iconic buildings. Meanwhile, the current Smithsonian magazine chronicles the attempts to preserve a building that truly is iconic: Istanbul's nearly 1,500-year-old Byzantine masterpiece, the Hagia Sophia. I told you some time ago about my mentor Bill Zinsser's remarkable attempt to recreate of his now-defunct training ground, the New York Herald Tribune. You can now read that entire portion, excerpted recently in the American Scholar. And as a holiday bonus, we bring you a fourth great read: this long and splendid rendering of the vigorously independent-minded writer Gary Wills, from National Catholic Reporter. You can review earlier TGRs here.