the last book in the universe resumen

"The Last Book in the Universe" Summary

By Rodman Philbrick

young adult | 223 pages | Published in 2000

This fast-paced action novel is set in a future where the world has been almost destroyed. Like the award-winning novel Freak the Mighty, this is Philbrick at his very best.It's the story of an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz, who begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the planet. In a world where most people are plugged into brain-drain entertainment systems, Spaz is the rare human being who can see life as it really is. When he meets an old man called Ryter, he begins to learn about Earth and its past. With Ryter as his companion, Spaz sets off an unlikely quest to save his dying sister -- and in the process, perhaps the world.

Estimated read time: 6 min read

One Sentence Summary

In a dystopian future, a young boy goes on a dangerous journey to find a legendary book.

Table of Contents

Introduction, brief synopsis, main characters, story points over chapters, main events, themes and insights, reader's takeaway.

"The Last Book in the Universe" by Rodman Philbrick is a captivating science fiction novel that takes readers on a journey to a dystopian future. Set in a world where books are rare and the population is divided into the privileged and the struggling, the story follows the adventures of a young boy named Spaz as he embarks on a dangerous quest. With its themes of resilience, friendship, and the power of storytelling, the book offers a thought-provoking exploration of human nature and the potential for change.

Plot Overview

The story is set in a futuristic, dystopian world where society has been divided into two groups: the privileged "proovs" who live in the safe and advanced Urb, and the struggling "normals" who reside in the dangerous and poverty-stricken Out-Cast. In this world, people are addicted to virtual reality and are disconnected from the real world.

The protagonist, Spaz, is a teenage boy living in the Out-Cast. Unlike others, Spaz is not affected by the mind-numbing disease plaguing the people. He meets an old man named Ryter, who is the guardian of the last remaining book in the world. Ryter introduces Spaz to the power of storytelling and encourages him to embark on a dangerous journey to save his dying younger sister, Bean.

Spaz, along with his loyal friends, embarks on a perilous journey to find a cure for Bean's illness, encountering various challenges and threats along the way. As they navigate through the treacherous terrain and face formidable adversaries, Spaz discovers his inner strength and the true meaning of bravery.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the world has been ravaged by an unnamed disaster. The two main locations are Urb, a technologically advanced and safe city inhabited by the privileged "proovs," and the Out-Cast, a dangerous and poverty-stricken area where the struggling "normals" reside. The contrast between these two settings highlights the stark inequalities and challenges faced by the characters.

The Last Book in the Universe features a diverse cast of characters, each with their own unique traits and motivations. Here are the main characters:

Chapters 1-4:

The story introduces the readers to the dystopian world and the protagonist, Spaz, who is living in the Out-Cast. Spaz encounters Ryter and learns about the power of storytelling and the existence of the last book in the world.

Chapters 5-8:

Spaz's younger sister, Bean, falls ill, and Spaz is determined to find a cure for her. He sets out on a perilous journey, accompanied by Ryter and a new ally, Lanaya, from the privileged Urb.

Chapters 9-12:

As Spaz and his companions venture into dangerous territory, they encounter various obstacles and adversaries. They navigate through treacherous landscapes and face life-threatening situations.

Chapters 13-16:

The group's journey becomes increasingly perilous as they approach their destination. They confront their inner fears and insecurities, and the bond between the characters grows stronger.

Chapters 17-20:

Spaz and his companions reach their destination and face their ultimate challenge. They must confront powerful adversaries and make difficult choices that will determine the fate of their mission.

The Last Book in the Universe is filled with gripping events that drive the narrative forward and keep readers on the edge of their seats. Some of the main events include:

• Spaz's encounter with Ryter and the discovery of the last remaining book
• Bean's illness and Spaz's decision to embark on a perilous journey to find a cure
• The group's encounters with adversaries and life-threatening situations during their journey
• The characters' emotional and psychological growth as they confront their fears and insecurities
• The ultimate challenge and the difficult choices the characters must make to determine the fate of their mission

"The Last Book in the Universe" explores several thought-provoking themes, including:

• Resilience and bravery in the face of adversity
• The power of storytelling and the preservation of knowledge
• Socioeconomic inequality and its impact on society
• The importance of human connection and empathy
• Overcoming fear and self-discovery

The novel offers valuable insights into the human experience, highlighting the resilience and strength that individuals possess, even in the most challenging circumstances. It also underscores the significance of preserving knowledge and the transformative power of storytelling in shaping the world.

"The Last Book in the Universe" is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that captivates readers with its rich storytelling and engaging characters. The story's exploration of resilience, friendship, and the power of human connection leaves a lasting impression on readers, inspiring them to reflect on the importance of empathy, bravery, and the preservation of knowledge.

In conclusion, "The Last Book in the Universe" offers a gripping and immersive journey into a dystopian future, where the characters' resilience and determination shine through the bleakness of their world. With its powerful themes and impactful storytelling, the novel leaves readers with a profound appreciation for the strength of the human spirit and the enduring significance of stories in shaping our understanding of the world.

The Last Book in the Universe FAQ

What is 'the last book in the universe' about.

The Last Book in the Universe is a science fiction novel set in a dystopian future where a young boy named Spaz embarks on a journey to find a cure for his sister's illness. Along the way, he encounters a group of outcasts and discovers the power of storytelling and the importance of preserving knowledge.

Who is the author of 'The Last Book in the Universe'?

The author of 'The Last Book in the Universe' is Rodman Philbrick. He is known for his compelling storytelling and engaging characters.

What genre does 'The Last Book in the Universe' fall into?

The Last Book in the Universe falls into the science fiction and dystopian fiction genres, exploring themes of survival, friendship, and the impact of technology on society.

Is 'The Last Book in the Universe' suitable for young adult readers?

Yes, 'The Last Book in the Universe' is suitable for young adult readers due to its engaging storyline and themes that resonate with the experiences of young people.

What are some key themes in 'The Last Book in the Universe'?

Some key themes in 'The Last Book in the Universe' include resilience, the power of storytelling, the impact of technology on humanity, and the importance of preserving knowledge and history.

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The Last Book In The Universe Summary & Study Guide

The Last Book In The Universe Summary & Study Guide Description

In a post-Apocalptic future, everyone in the dangerous, greedy Urb uses probes to induce hallucinations that allow them to escape their problems--everyone except a teenage boy named Spaz, who has epilepsy which prevents him from using them. Spaz was raised by a foster family, but was forced on the streets when his parents feared his seizures would be contagious to his younger sister Bean. Now he works for a crime boss named Billy Bizmo and collects on his debts for him. In the process, he meets an old hermit named Ryter and discovers he's writing a book--the last known book in the universe. Spaz tells him that books are pointless since nobody reads them anymore, but Ryter argues that it's important to preserve ideas and memories for the future. Spaz is too busy surviving day by day to worry about the future.

Spaz receives word that his sister is dying and wants to see him. Though it's against the rules--and though he's been expressly forbidden by Billy Bizmo to go-- Spaz travels between the boundaries known as "latches," accompanied by Ryter and a little street urchin named Little Face who doesn't speak. Along the way, they encounter a girl named Lanaya, who is one of the proovs--or "improved genetic species"--who are thought to be smarter and better than normals like Spaz who live in the Urb. Lanaya is different from the other proovs, though, and offers to help them get to Bean.

Bean is nearly dead by the time they reach her and there seems to be little hope. Ryter diagnoses her with leukemia, an illness there used to be a treatment for but which they've lost over time. Lanaya offers to break the rules by taking Bean back to Eden, where the other proovs live and where advanced technology may be able to save Bean's life, even though it's forbidden for normals to go to Eden. Once there, Bean is healed, and Spaz discovers Lanaya is being raised to be a Master of Eden, one of the lawmakers. As Lanaya and her parents interact with the normals, they come to appreciate their intelligence and ability to survive and realize there is much they can learn from them. The other proovs disagree, however, and cast Spaz, Ryter, and Bean out, though Lanaya's parents adopt Little Face and keep him as their own.

Back in the Urb, Spaz and Bean are separated again and Spaz struggles to return to his old life now that he knows what being in Eden is like. Everything soon changes, however, when probes are banned in the Urb and the other normals come after Ryter, blaming him for the change. Spaz tries to save Ryter, and his book, but the mob kills Ryter and destroys the book. Before Ryter dies, he tells Spaz that he is now the last book in the universe. Spaz learns that his life was spared because his father is Billy Bizmo. Billy wants Spaz to follow in his footsteps, but Spaz decides to become a writer like Ryter. He receives a message from Lanaya telling him that today they may have lost, but the future will be theirs.

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THE LAST BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE

by Rodman Philbrick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2000

In this riveting futuristic novel, Spaz, a teenage boy with epilepsy, makes a dangerous journey in the company of an old man and a young boy. The old man, Ryter, one of the few people remaining who can read and write, has dedicated his life to recording stories. Ryter feels a kinship with Spaz, who unlike his contemporaries has a strong memory; because of his epilepsy, Spaz cannot use the mind probes that deliver entertainment straight to the brain and rot it in the process. Nearly everyone around him uses probes to escape their life of ruin and poverty, the result of an earthquake that devastated the world decades earlier. Only the “proovs,” genetically improved people, have grass, trees, and blue skies in their aptly named Eden, inaccessible to the “normals” in the Urb. When Spaz sets out to reach his dying younger sister, he and his companions must cross three treacherous zones ruled by powerful bosses. Moving from one peril to the next, they survive only with help from a proov woman. Enriched by Ryter’s allusions to nearly lost literature and full of intriguing, invented slang, the skillful writing paints two pictures of what the world could look like in the future—the burned-out Urb and the pristine Eden—then shows the limits and strengths of each. Philbrick, author of Freak the Mighty (1993) has again created a compelling set of characters that engage the reader with their courage and kindness in a painful world that offers hope, if no happy endings. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-439-08758-9

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

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More by Rodman Philbrick

BOOK REVIEW

by Rodman Philbrick

THE CANDY SHOP WAR

by Brandon Mull ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2007

Four fifth-graders are recruited by a scheming magician in this hefty bonbon from the author of the Fablehaven tales. At first, Nate, Summer, Trevor and Pigeon think they have it good. Having asked them to help her recover a hidden treasure that (she says) belongs to her, Belinda White, friendly proprietor of a sweets shop that has just opened in their small town, provides some uncommon candies—like Moon Rocks, that give them the ability to jump like grasshoppers, and literally electrifying Shock Bits. When she begins asking them to commit certain burglaries, though, their exhilaration turns to unease, and rightly so; Mrs. White is actually after a draft from the Fountain of Youth that will make her the world’s most powerful magician. And, as it turns out, she isn’t the only magician who’s come to town—not even the only one whose magic is tied to sweets. Filling out the supporting cast with the requisite trio of bullies, plus magical minions of various (and sometimes gross) abilities, Mull trots his twist-laden plot forward to a well set-up climax. Leaving the door open an inch for sequels, he dishes up a crowd-pleaser as delicious—if not so weird—as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . (Fantasy. 10-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59038-783-2

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2007

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

More by Brandon Mull

by Brandon Mull ; illustrated by Brandon Dorman

by Brandon Mull

DOWN BY THE STATION

‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

Hillenbrand takes license with the familiar song (the traditional words and music are reproduced at the end) to tell an enchanting story about baby animals picked up by the train and delivered to the children’s zoo. The full-color drawings are transportingly jolly, while the catchy refrain—“See the engine driver pull his little lever”—is certain to delight readers. Once the baby elephant, flamingo, panda, tiger, seal, and kangaroo are taken to the zoo by the train, the children—representing various ethnic backgrounds, and showing one small girl in a wheelchair—arrive. This is a happy book, filled with childhood exuberance. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-201804-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harcourt

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION

More by Jane Hillenbrand

by Jane Hillenbrand & Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

by Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

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The Last Book in the Universe

Unless you are one of the genetically improved that are permitted to live in Eden, you live in the Urb, the ragged ruins of a once great city. Spaz lives there, surviving by stealing for the gang lead by Billy Bizmo. When Spaz is ordered to rob Ryter, he gets more than the old man’s meager possessions — he finds a friend who is willing to help him help his dying sister.

Watch our video interview with Rodman Philbrick.

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Literature / The Last Book in the Universe

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"They call me Spaz, which is kind of a mope name, but I don't mind, not anymore." — Spaz

"Nobody around here reads anymore. Why bother, when you can just use a mindprobe needle and shoot all the images and excitement into your brain? I've heard of books, but they were long before I was born, in the backtimes before the Big Shake, when everything supposedly was perfect, and everybody lived rich. Personally, I doubt the backtimes ever existed. It's like a story you tell to make yourself feel better. As if having a past makes the future somehow worth believing in. In real life, nobody comes to your rescue. Believe me, I know. But then I met Ryter, this old gummy who had a lot of crazy ideas. Together we tried to change the world..."

A 2000 young adult novel by by Rodman Philbrick who you might know as the author of Freak the Mighty .

The Last Book in the Universe provides examples of:

• After the End : It's heavily implied that a very large part of humanity was wiped out in a massive earthquake.

• Bittersweet Ending : Ryter's dead and The Urb has fallen into chaos after being cut off from mindprobes, which are essentially drugs. On the other hand, Bean has been cured of her illness, Little Face has a new home with Lanaya's family in Eden, and Spaz is continuing Ryter's work. The boom ends with Lanaya and Spaz, now called Ryter himself, promising that when they grow up, they will make things better.
• Body Horror : Mongo The Magnificent, a once-powerful latchboss who's left in his mindprobe for an entire year. His hair's fallen out, his body's emaciated almost to the bone, he's lying oblivious in his own filth, and his brains are literally oozing out of his head.
• Cheerful Child : Despite the dire circumstances around him, Little Face remains in good spirits and is perpetually adorable.
• Cool Old Guy : Ryter. No matter how dire the situation is, he's always calm and polite. Spaz quickly grows to admire him.
• Crapsack World : The Urb, where most of the story takes place. Everything's broken down and smog fills the air, making everything you see grey, and everyone lives in perpetual poverty. Gangs rule specific areas and their word is law. ...On the other side of the spectrum, you have Eden , within the Urb, which is exactly as the name implies.
• Cursed with Awesome : Spaz, due to his epilepsy, can't take the mind probes. This makes him more intelligent and less passive than most others.
• Disaster Scavengers : Most in the Urb are scrounging up the remains of a wrecked civilization to survive and getting by on handouts from Eden.
• Death by Childbirth According to Billy Bizmo, Spaz's father, this is how his mother died.
• Delicate and Sickly : Spaz's adoptive sister, Bean, who is later revealed to have leukemia. With the help of Eden's technology, she gets better.
• Designer Babies : Proovs, who are genetically Improved humans who live in Eden, cut off from the unwashed masses of the latches.
• Escapism : Deconstructed with Probes, which are basically fantasy worlds injected into your mind. “Shooters” are violent, but more popular in the wrecked hells cape of the Urb are “trendies” about living in Eden. You might never want to come out.
• Fantastic Drug : Probes are halfway between this and escapist entertainment. Although their effects are primarily entertainment, they have a long list of physical and mental side effects and are strongly habit forming.
• First-Person Peripheral Narrator : Towards the end, Spaz states outright that he's not the hero of the story— it's actually Ryter.
• Forbidden Zone : The minefield separating the latches from Eden.
• From Bad to Worse : When Ryter and Spaz are forced to leave Eden, they find that the probes have all been deactivated, and the Urb has fallen into chaos.
• Future Slang : Zoomed note  crazy . Carboshake note  energy drink . Gummy note  elderly person . Cancelled note  a Deadly Euphemism And many more.
• Government Drug Enforcement : It is a faction in Eden that supplies the mindprobes, in an attempt to deaden the minds of the normals and make it easier to wipe them out .
• Happily Adopted : Little Face is secretly adopted by Lanaya's "contributors", or parents.
• Instant Expert : Bean at chess. She manages to win against a proov who'd been playing the game since he was five, despite only just having learned how to play herself.
• Intergenerational Friendship : Ryter is a few decades older than Spaz, and as they travel together Spaz grows to greatly admire him.
• Luke, I Am Your Father : Shortly before Ryter's execution, Spaz learns that the latchboss Billy Bizmo is his father.
• The Man Behind the Curtain : In one of the latches Spaz and Ryter pass through, the boss is a shriveled brain-probe addict who no longer has the physical strength or mental presence to run his territory. His gang stays together by dogmatically following the rules he laid down in earlier times .
• Ryter. Also as a Punny Name and a Stealth Pun . note  Say it out loud with a long "i" sound.
• Red Baron : Boss Lady. The Latch Queen. Nails. The White Widow. Lotti Getts, latch-boss of The Vandals.
• Rebellious Princess : Lanaya again. She's a special kind of proov who has been genetically bred to one day take over as the leader of Eden, but she's unhappy with the way the proovs look down on the normals.
• Shout-Out : Many, from Yeats to Odysseus.
• Take Up My Sword : Just before Ryter is executed, he tells Spaz that it doesn't matter if the book he was writing was destroyed, because "you're the book now - make it a good one!"
• Talking the Monster to Death : The climax is Lanaya's speech to the Masters and the Proovs at the end. Sadly, it doesn't work. They do at least decide to shut down all of the Probes and stop supplying new ones, dashing the hopes of the faction intend on genocide, but in the short term this only produces more chaos.
• The Beautiful Elite : Proovs were genetically designed to be perfect, and their living conditions are far better than those of the "normals." They also have higher authority.
• Third-Person Person : Billy Bizmo talks like this. The effect is rather unsettling, even for a latchboss.
• Title Drop : Towards the end, referring to Spaz .
• What a Drag : The book begins saying that Ryder is going to die by being “wheeled.” He’s lynched by an Angry Mob after taking the blame for the deactivation of the mindprobes.
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The grey's anatomy spinoff started with ben switching from doctor to firefighter.

While Ben consistently appeared in at least one episode in every season since Grey’s Anatomy season 6, his impact on the medical drama’s main storylines was little in the seasons simultaneous to Station 19 ’s. His retirement due to a serious illness would be as impactful for Station 19 , as it would mean the end of his firefighting career and separating himself from his Station 19 family, as for Grey’s Anatomy , as his illness would affect Miranda’s life and likely be treated at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Ben returning in whatever capacity to Grey Sloan Memorial would also close the circle on Station 19 , making his return coincide with the firefighting drama’s ending , just like Station 19 ’s start was prompted by his career switch. This could let most of the original Station 19 firefighters continue their lives after Ben as they did before his arrival, letting Station 19 correspond to a window into their lives through Ben’s rookie perspective at first until the end of his career and the firefighting show simultaneously.

Station 19 returns on ABC with season 7, episode 6 on May 2, 2024.

Station 19 (2018)

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Station 19 is a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy that premiered in 2018 on ABC. The series follows the professional and personal lives of the firefighters at Seattle Fire Station 19. Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 sometimes have crossover episodes in which a storyline is depicted on one night throughout both shows.

The Last Book In The Universe

104 pages • 3 hours read

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The Last Book in the Universe

• Genre : Fiction; middle grade dystopian
• Originally Published: 2000
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 740L; grades 4-7
• Structure/Length: 33 chapters; approx. 240 pages; approx. 4 hours and 24 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Spaz, a teenager with epilepsy, is one of the few people in a future dystopian world who doesn’t use mind probes for entertainment, allowing him to see things clearly. He and an old man named Ryter embark on a journey to find a promised land called Eden.
• Potential Sensitivity Issue: ableism

Rodman Philbrick, Author

• Bio: Grew up in New Hampshire; currently lives in both Maine and Florida; started writing novels at the age of 16; writes for both children and adults
• Other Works: Freak the Mighty (1993); The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (2009); Zane and the Hurricane (2014)
• Awards: Maine Library Association Lupine Award (2000); ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2001); Newbery Honor (2010)

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• The Foundational Nature of the Family Unit
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• Leadership and Privilege
• Inner Versus Outer Beauty

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Jesse Wegman

Editorial Board Member

The Supreme Court May Side With Jan. 6 Rioters, and Their Leader

Because of a couple of ambiguous words in a federal law, a majority of the Supreme Court seems poised to throw out hundreds of convictions of Jan. 6 attackers. That was the main takeaway after oral arguments Tuesday morning in a case challenging the Justice Department’s reliance on an Enron-era law in prosecuting some of the more than 1,200 rioters who broke down barricades and stormed the Capitol in a violent effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The right-wing justices, who sound increasingly like they are dictating replies to a MAGA social media thread, expressed concern about the risk of selective prosecution. Why, they asked, hasn’t this same law been used against Black Lives Matter protesters or, say, Representative Jamaal Bowman, the Democratic lawmaker who pulled a fire alarm in Congress last year?

It’s fair to ensure that laws are applied equally, but this line of questioning, and from these particular justices, was at best disingenuous. They seemed to forget that there is no precedent for a violent mob invading Congress in an attempt to block a constitutionally mandated vote count and overthrow an election. (Bowman, in contrast, was censured by his colleagues for his stupid and reckless but not insurrectionist act.)

The bigger question looming behind Tuesday’s arguments involved the man who incited the Jan. 6 mob: Donald Trump, the former and perhaps future president. Jack Smith, the special counsel, included violations of the same law in one of his federal indictments of Trump, and if the court tosses the charge in the cases of the relatively low-level attackers, Trump will surely exploit that in his case.

Of course, Trump’s own Jan. 6 trial, which was supposed to begin in early March, has been on hold for months, thanks to his outrageous claim of absolute immunity, which the justices agreed last month to hear on an oddly relaxed schedule . Oral arguments are more than a week off, and a ruling might not come until late June.

If there’s any silver lining in all this, it’s that Smith will know by then what the court thinks of this obstruction charge, and he can adapt his Jan. 6 prosecution accordingly.

In the meantime, Congress may want to update the federal criminal code for the age of Trumpism.

Jonathan Alter

Contributing Opinion Writer

Trump’s Plan to Expose the Secret Bias of Jurors Isn’t Working

It isn’t easy being orange in Manhattan, but it helps to have a bunch of jury consultants scouring the web for anyone with a sense of humor about you. Even spouses making bad orange jokes.

Donald Trump’s legal team isn’t wrong to be concerned about bias. In the first batch of potential jurors in his hush-money trial, more than half volunteered that they could not be fair and were dismissed. And when a former Lands’ End employee was found to have posted in 2017 on Facebook to “lock him up,” Justice Juan Merchan rightly dismissed the potential juror for cause. Same for a bookseller who posted an A.I. parody video of Trump saying he is “dumb as ….”

But as the court seated seven jurors on Tuesday (out of 12, plus a half-dozen alternates), Trump and his lawyers tried the judge’s patience.

I wish there were audio footage of the angry voice from the bench when Merchan told Trump’s lawyers that the defendant “was audible, he was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

A few minutes later, the still-irritated judge said he thought that Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, was using the jury selection process to — wait for it — delay the proceedings. When Blanche tried to have a high school teacher from the Upper West Side dismissed for cause because she had taken a cellphone video of a street dance party on 96th Street celebrating Joe Biden’s victory, the judge summoned the potential juror. After ascertaining that she was sincere in her assurance that she could be fair, he refused to dismiss her for cause.

And Merchan rebuked Blanche for also offering a video the juror took of New Yorkers saluting health care workers by banging pots and pans each night at the start of the Covid pandemic. Blanche suggested the video was disqualifying, but the judge said there was “nothing offensive” about it, adding that making such irrelevant challenges was a waste of everyone’s time.

When the defense wanted Juror No. 3 dismissed for cause because her husband posted three joking photos (one during the transition from Barack Obama to Trump with the caption “I don’t think this is what they meant by ‘orange is the new black’”), the judge was not amused.

“If this is the worst thing you were able to find,” he said, “that her husband posted this not very good humor from eight years ago, it gives me confidence that this juror could be fair and impartial.”

Will Trump finally get the message that he’s not calling the shots? Not likely, but the judge will almost certainly keep delivering it for the duration of this trial.

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Bret Stephens

Opinion Columnist

The Assault on American Jews Is Getting Worse

Ten years ago, the Anti-Defamation League released its annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States. The group reported just 751 incidents targeting Jews in 2013, a 19 percent drop from the previous year.

“In the last decade we have witnessed a significant and encouraging decline in the number of antisemitic acts in America,” Abraham Foxman, the A.D.L.’s director at the time, said in a news release. “The falling number of incidents targeting Jews is another indication of just how far we have come in finding full acceptance in society.”

That was then. On Tuesday, the A.D.L. released its audit for 2023 . It recorded 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the United States — a 140 percent increase over 2022 and a tenfold increase over a decade ago. The numbers include 161 physical assaults, 2,177 acts of vandalism and 1,009 bomb threats against synagogues and other Jewish institutions, as compared to 91 bomb threats for 2022. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated 13 times last year, up from four times the year before.

Much of the increase came after Hamas’s massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, and the A.D.L. changed its methodology somewhat to take account of anti-Zionist expressions it deemed to be effectively antisemitic. But even without the methodology changes, the A.D.L. would still have recorded 7,523 antisemitic incidents last year.

What do some of these incidents look like? The report offers dozens of examples.

In February 2023, a man shot two Jewish men as they were leaving a synagogue. In May, “swastikas made of feces were smeared in a residence hall bathroom at the University of California, San Diego.” In July, a group of about 20 people assaulted three Jewish teens at New York’s Rockaway Beach after noticing that one of the teens was wearing a Star of David. In October, Jemma DeCristo , a professor in American studies at the University of California, Davis, threatened “Zionist journalists”: “they have houses w addresses, kids in school,” she wrote, before signing off with knife, hatchet and blood emojis.

Antisemitism can be difficult to define — a fact that has long offered antisemites an opportunity to hide their prejudice behind terminology. But as Justice Potter Stewart once said about pornography — “I know it when I see it” — so it could be said about hatred of Jews.

To see it in America today, you don’t have to look very far.

New York’s Flawed Housing Deal Still Deserves Approval

New York’s politicians have finally struck a deal to address the state’s disastrous housing crisis, the most pressing issue facing the region.

The deal, announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers Monday, is solicitous of real estate interests. But it may help accomplish some of what the state and its tenants need anyway.

Under the compromise, which would be included in the state budget, developers would receive generous tax incentives to build more housing. In exchange, developers would make 20 percent of the units affordable. A limit on building sizes would be raised, providing an incentive for more construction in New York City. Owners of rent-stabilized buildings could charge higher rents for making improvements. Hochul officials say the plan would lead to just under 190,000 units of new housing in the state over the next decade.

Tenants in New York City would win new protections against evictions, a long-sought goal. But other benefits for tenants are weak. Municipalities outside the city would have to opt in to the protections, which would prohibit owners of market-rate buildings from increasing the rent by more than 10 percent over the previous year, or 5 percentage points above the rate of inflation. There is a feast of exemptions, including properties with 10 or fewer units, and new units built wouldn’t be covered under the protections for the first 30 years. The weakness of these tenant protections, which have been fought hard by groups like the Real Estate Board of New York, is a reflection of the industry’s continued outsize sway on state politics.

But as flawed as this compromise is, walking away from it entirely would be irresponsible.

Four in 10 New York State residents are spending 30 percent of their income or more on housing. More than half of New York City residents are doing the same. Evictions are up nearly 200 percent .

Doing nothing isn’t an option. Instead, lawmakers and state officials can work quickly to make the deal better. Tenant protections can be strengthened. Allowing residents to rent accessory dwelling units, known as in-law apartments, would also be a win.

Truly facing this crisis will require bigger fights, like confronting restrictive zoning laws in Westchester and Long Island that have made it almost impossible to build multifamily housing. It’s also past time to reform New York City’s embarrassingly regressive property tax system, in which renters get stuck with most of the bill.

Residents, voters and businesses invested in New York City need to build a powerful pro-housing coalition, one that not even Albany can ignore.

Opinion Writer

Trump Beats Biden on the Economy, Voters Say. Are They Right?

President Biden must be tearing his hair out over the latest New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters. Half of the respondents describe economic conditions as “poor.” Only 20 percent say they strongly approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, while 45 percent strongly approve of Donald Trump’s handling of the economy as president.

This would make sense if the economy were in recession, but the opposite is true. The Covid-19 recession happened while Trump was still in office, and the economy has snapped back powerfully since. On Monday, the Census Bureau released retail sales data for March that economists described as “solid,” “strong” and “booming.”

To be clear, what this means is that there are some likely voters whose opinions and actions don’t line up. They’re saying the economy is poor, but they’re behaving as if things are really good. How is Biden supposed to respond to this in his economic speech in Scranton, Pa., on Tuesday, without antagonizing voters by telling them they’re wrong?

Here’s a chart I made based on the Times/Siena poll about the two presidents’ handling of the economy:

And here’s one about economic conditions, which only 5 percent of likely voters rate as excellent:

I asked Ludovic Subran, the chief economist of Allianz Research in Germany, for his explanation of the divergence between the economy’s performance and voters’ perceptions. He put it into an international perspective. Around the world, he said, voters have turned against people who were in office when the inflation shock hit. Biden’s predicament doesn’t look unusual from that point of view.

Subran also said that inequality has increased during the recovery from the pandemic because the strong stock market has lifted the wealth of the stock-holding class. He attributed part of the stock market gains to the Biden administration’s policies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which directed government aid to companies that are investing in the fight against climate change. (Partially offsetting that, wage gains have been strongest at the bottom end of the income scale.)

The good news for Biden in the Times/Siena poll is that the two candidates are nearly tied in terms of whom voters would pick if the election were held today. But if Biden can’t persuade voters that he’s better than Trump on the economy — or at least somewhere in that neighborhood — his re-election campaign will remain in peril.

Justice Merchan Starts to Hold Trump Accountable

Beyond seeing its historical importance, those of us covering the Trump trial expected the first day to be relatively uneventful, with housekeeping details and rules of the road for jury selection. But it turned out that the morning also had the first stirrings of accountability for Donald Trump.

As part of the pretrial housekeeping, Justice Juan Merchan delivered the so-called Parker warnings on courtroom behavior directly to the defendant, reminding him that he could be jailed if he disrupted the proceedings.

Trump, who earlier seemed to be dozing, muttered, “I do,” when asked if he understood this and the other elements of the warning, which Merchan was delivering to Trump for a second time — now orally — just to make sure it sank in.

Then the former president had to sit and listen to a discussion of the admissibility of his years of witness intimidation, his arguably illegal social media posts and his efforts to use The National Enquirer to destroy his rivals. The jury didn’t hear any of this, but Trump and everyone else in the courtroom did.

All morning, Trump’s side only won once: when Merchan ruled that during the testimony of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, there could be no mention in front of the jury of Trump’s wife being pregnant and then being with a newborn (Barron Trump) at home when McDougal says they were having a long-running affair.

At one point, Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, saw that his slumped client was looking straight ahead, dejected. He reached out and patted Trump on the back.

Merchan said he would hold a hearing on April 23 on the prosecution’s motion that Trump be held in contempt of court and possibly jailed for three Truth Social posts attacking Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, which seemed to be a clear violation of Merchan’s gag order preventing Trump from trying to intimidate witnesses.

Merchan indicated that he would reject Trump’s go-to argument that he was just responding in kind.

In the meantime, Merchan was also concerned about the logistics of accommodating Trump’s desire to be heavily involved in jury selection. Part of that process can take place in conference, outside the courtroom, if a potential juror wants to talk to Merchan and the lawyers in private. The unspoken worry hanging over the courtroom: Would a potential juror feel intimidated if Trump, exercising his right, was there, too?

Merchan is working that out. He reminds me of the old deodorant ad for Ice Blue Secret. The bespectacled, snow-haired Merchan is “cool, calm and collected” and will do a terrific job in this trial.

Frank Bruni

Have Voters Really Forgotten Trump’s Presidency?

Memory plays tricks on us. It’s famously unreliable. That’s the bane of estranged lovers weighing the wisdom of reconciliation. Of jurors determining the credibility of a witness.

And of Americans deciding how to vote in a presidential election? The latest poll by The New York Times and Siena College makes me wonder.

The poll, published Saturday, shows Donald Trump holding on to a slight edge of 46 percent to 45 percent over President Biden. And it includes this detail: When survey respondents were asked whether they remember the years of Trump’s presidency as “mostly good,” “mostly bad” or “not really good or bad,” 42 percent said “mostly good,” while just 33 percent said “mostly bad.”

Mostly good? Which part? His first impeachment? His second? All the drama at the border (because, yes, there was drama at the border then, too)? All the drama in the West Wing? The revolving door of senior administration officials, his good-people-on-both-sides response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., his wishful musings about violent attacks on journalists and Democrats, his nutty soliloquies at news conferences early in the coronavirus pandemic, his recklessly cavalier handling of his own Covid infection, his incitement of the Jan. 6 rioting, the rioting itself?

Those were the days.

I realize that the “mostly good” camp comprises many MAGA loyalists who will simply answer any Trump-related question in a Trump-adoring way. Tribalism triumphs. I realize, too, that Americans tend to prioritize economic realities in assessments of this kind, and that much of what they’re remembering and referring to are the lower prices of housing, food and other essentials during Trump’s presidency.

But I fear that they’re forgetting too much else in a wash of voter nostalgia . A fresh presidential bid by someone who was in and then away from the White House isn’t just highly unusual. It’s a memory test — and, in the case of a politician as potentially destructive as Trump, a profoundly important one.

Americans unhappy with Biden’s presidency need no reminders about why. They’re living it every day. But their present discontent may be claiming the space on their mental hard drives where their past discontent was stored, purging all the discord and disgrace that created Biden’s opening.

Absence makes the Trump grow stronger.

As History Is Made, Trump Can Only Glare in Silent Fury

On Monday morning, those of us fortunate enough to have a seat in the courtroom will feel the hush of history as Justice Juan Merchan opens the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. This will be the first time since the founding of the American republic that a president of the United States has gone on trial in a criminal court.

As jury selection begins, my thoughts will inevitably turn to this striking lack of precedent. Richard Nixon was pardoned, Bill Clinton was disbarred, and Ulysses S. Grant paid a ticket for speeding in his carriage, but none faced a criminal trial.

This case is about highly credible charges that Trump falsified business records as part of a scheme to silence an adult film star and tilt the outcome of the 2016 election.

The prosecution’s argument that this is a 2016 election interference case is prompting Trump to pursue his usual I’m-rubber-you’re-glue strategy and claim that it’s really the judge and the Manhattan district attorney who are interfering — in the 2024 election. But he won’t be able to make that argument inside the courtroom.

Trump will probably have to settle for sitting silently and glaring at the judge. He is a domineering client, even when it’s not in his interest, and he’ll probably weaken his case by forcing his lawyers to back his ridiculous claim that the whole extramarital affair is made up. They’ll have a better shot arguing that the hush-money payments were not illegal and Trump did not intentionally break tax and campaign finance laws.

Among the witnesses expected to testify are Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer turned major accuser, whose credibility will be a big issue; Hope Hicks, Trump’s former press secretary, who could help corroborate Cohen’s testimony; Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels), the porn star who received $130,000 in payments Trump is charged with laundering through Cohen; Karen McDougal, a former Playboy playmate of the year who also received hush money; and David Pecker, the National Enquirer chief testifying for the prosecution, whose catch-and-kill scheme to bury dirt on Trump will open a window on how tabloid journalism, well, changed world history.

Trump claimed on Friday that he’s willing to testify, but that may be just his usual posturing. If he rejects the pleading of his attorneys and takes the stand, cross-examination about his many lies would be admissible.

I’ll be back on Monday afternoon with a report on how the day went.

Patrick Healy

Deputy Opinion Editor

Could These Two Twists Change the 2024 Race?

Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:

Donald Trump has spent this year projecting political strength. His renomination was inevitable , and he has been ahead of Joe Biden in many battleground state polls and national polls. Keep in mind: Trump rarely led in general election polls 2016 and 2020, making his strength in the first quarter of 2024 notable. It’s one reason there’s so much talk of him winning the presidency this year.

But this week? It’s the start of the Trump vulnerability chapter of the campaign. I haven’t seen him looking this vulnerable since his 2022 Senate endorsements blew up in his face. The reasons are two twists in the race: the Trump trial and abortion.

As everyone knows, Trump’s trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial is set to start Monday in Manhattan. Trump has never faced a criminal jury trial in his life. I don’t think he ever thought one of these criminal trials would actually happen — he’s been an escape artist his whole life. The big question: Will this trial actually change anyone’s opinion of Trump when so much about his bad behavior is already baked into our brains? I think a conviction might — there’s some polling that suggests that independents and some Trump leaners would be less likely to vote for him if he’s convicted, especially of a criminal cover-up. Based on a lot of years reporting with voters, and our Times Opinion focus groups, I think voting for a recently convicted criminal for president will be a bridge too far for some Americans otherwise inclined to back him.

On issues, Trump has boxed himself into a position on abortion that he thought was awfully clever when he rolled it out: Let each state decide its abortion law. Then Arizona’s Supreme Court did just that, upholding a ban from 1864. I’ve rarely seen Trump look as slippery and untrustworthy with his own base, and he’s running away from abortion as far as he can. Do swing voters really believe him when he says he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban if he had the chance? Doubt it.

As you’ll keep hearing, the election is more than six months away, and so much can change: we barely know how the Iranian attack on Israel might affect things, for instance. But for all those known unknowns, one thing is clear: Trump is entering his riskiest phase yet of the race.