SOURCE: Potemra, Michael. “American Beauty.” National Review 54, no. 1 (28 January 2002): 59-60.

In the following excerpt, Potemra examines Mallon's characterization of Ruth Paine in Mrs. Paine's Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy.

So you're at a party, and you meet a young couple. The husband is, rather obviously, a tough case. He's angry at the world—thinks everybody is either stupid, or out to get him, or both. But he and his wife speak Russian, and you want to improve your skills in that language, so you decide to get involved in the young couple's life. You make some calls and get the guy a job in a warehouse; and you give his wife a room in your suburban home in return for help with the housework, and with your Russian.

It's the kind of thing nice people do, every day, in America: reach out to their neighbors...