Ann Beattie's powerful contrast in her writing of tellingly detailed descriptions and stark silence has caused her work to be placed in the contemporary canon of literary minimalism, a movement identified by critics--not by the so-called minimalists them...

Ann Beattie is a novelist and short-story writer whose evocations of American life at the end of the twentieth century have earned her a wide readership and sustained critical engagement for more than two decades. Beattie's fiction explores the emotional...

THE ROMAN god for January was Janus, who was two-faced. He certainly is for Bill Clinton, who gets good and bad in everything. The only uncomplicated thing he has done lately was to name Dan Glickman as secretary of agriculture. Other openings offer nothing...

CHANGE SPRINGS from surprising places in America's decentralized political system. Barely a single congressman is prepared to endorse drug legalization, but a handful of determined activists have skillfully used ballot initiatives to decriminalize medical marijuana in five states. A large group in Congress bows...

As a bottoms-up stock picker, Minyoung Sohn believes in sticking to his investment strategy no matter the market's direction. His fund, Janus Fundamental Equity JAEIX (formerly Janus Core Equity), is tied directly to Janus' intensive research. More than 80% of the fund's holdings are rated...

Predictable may be boring, but it's preferred by Janus Enterprise Fund. Jonathan Coleman, who manages the $1.8 billion fund JAENX, says he wants growth without the volatility that can go with high-risk stocks. He is proud that the fund's 11.16% return in the five years...