A couple of new Harvard-bashing books, Harvard Rules and Privilege, are reviewed today in the New York Times. Of the two, I'll probably end up reading Harvard Rules, which sounds more fun: among other things, it "dwells on [Larry] Summers's table manners and often disheveled appearance." As for Privilege, the author may be well-intentioned, but I'm not sure that he has much to say to anyone who actually went to Harvard and thought about his or her experience there for more than, well, fifteen minutes. Here's a sample:

In Harvard Rules, Bradley describes the case of Joe Green, an undergraduate disillusioned by his experience as a student representative on the committee evaluating the Core Curriculum. "Green kept thinking about a question one of his professors had put to him: 'If you could either go here and get no diploma, or not go here and get the diploma, what would you do?'" Bradley writes. "It bothered Green that he couldn't easily answer the question."

Frankly, I'd rather go to Harvard and get the diploma. (Can I do that?) Given this hypothetical dilemma, however, I guess my response is this: even without a diploma, I'd hang out at Harvard forever, as long as they'd let me do it for free. Any thoughts from the audience?