Strange "Choices"

Published Sep 25 2007, 03:41 PM by Adam Reilly

I've just finished the final installment of the Globe's "Choices of the Heart" series, and I'm left with a feeling of...befuddlement.

Yes, the three front-page stories--all by reporter Patricia Wen--were engaging reads. But compared to Barbara's Story, which won Wen a Casey Award and made her a Pulitzer Finalist back in 2004*, they lacked depth and thematic coherence.

The common thread, such as it is, seems to be that parents sometime have to make really tough decisions involving their kids. But it's not clear why "Choices" chose** to highlight the three personal stories it did, or whether there's any deeper lesson we're supposed to to take away from Wen's reporting.

All the reader reactions posted online seem to be positive, so maybe I'm being overly critical here. Then again, those comments were screened prior to posting. So I'm curious: does anyone out there have anything to say--good or bad--about the Globe's decision to devote so much space to these three stories?

*Oddly, the Pulitzer jury didn't pick a winner in the feature-writing category (where Wen was a finalist) that year.

**Indicates grammatical fix (see comments).

Brodeur out at Dig

Blinded by the Right?

4 Comments

Aging Cynic said:

at least she didn't use the word "choosed"...

September 25, 2007 10:00 PM
Adam said:

A.C., I thank you.

September 25, 2007 11:08 PM
Rodney said:

Let's see, you come to the US, have two children out of wedlock, traffic in phony Social Security cards, and we're supposed to feel SORRY that you're getting deported?? Uh, no.

September 26, 2007 2:28 PM
Rick in Duxbury said:

Took a course once in "TQM", Total Quality Management.Included is a concept called "world hunger", briefly stated, that if you try to feed EVERY hungry person, you will just create one more hungry person, yourself. I feel terrible for the poor lady but at some point, charity begins at home. We donate more money overseas than any other country and the needy people just keep on coming, largely illegally. We can do a lot more good if we stay rich enough to donate generously. That cannot happen if our economic status is no higher than our poorest neighbor, (or THEIR poorest neighbor).

September 26, 2007 9:42 PM