Book Review by Erica Jong - 'Somewhere Towards the End,' by Diana Athill - Review - NYTimes.com

The literature of death may have begun with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s classic “On Death and Dying” (1969)or with Judith Viorst’s “Necessary Losses” (1986), a book I buy for anyone who is grieving. Or the subject may linger in the air because of global warming and terrorism.

UN chief's TOP priority:  Spending trillions trying to tweak trace amounts of natural atmospheric gas

Asked how much of a priority the issue of climate change was for him and the UN, Mr. Ban, who received the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2009 at the Delhi Sustainable Summit, responded that his “top priority and target” as UN Secretary-General was to have “a balanced, comprehensive, and effective” international agreement by the end of December this year in Copenhagen. As a regime, it must also be “ratifiable” as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Emphasising that “India can play a very important, crucially important role,” Mr. Ban said “that’s why I am here…Everybody is looking at India, what India will do.”