In this 1933 musical comedy, the round-eyed, sweetly leering comedian Eddie Cantor stars as Eddie, a bookish drifter who is run out of the small town of West Rome for speaking truth to the petty martinet of a mayor.

NEWYORKER: Roman Scandals

Two caravan loads of workers a miner's son, a Bob Dylan fan, a voluptuous gang mistress and her religious niece, two Chinese girls and a round-eyed African are being paid a pittance to collect strawberries for the smug middle classes who can afford to turn a blind eye to how their out-of-season fruit and veg actually gets to their white-linened tables.

ECONOMIST: New fiction

The television audience got to watch it all live: the cross-eyed canvassers holding ballots up to the light under the big round magnifying glass, searching for signs of intent.

CNN: Bush's Contested Lead