Books & the Arts

Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief

Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief

In Dead in Long Beach, California, the novelist looks at how integral lying is to any story we tell about death.

Jul 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Soto

Statue of Clarice Lispector at Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro, 2016.

Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology

To understand the philosophical dimensions of her fiction you must read her 1961 novel The Apple in the Dark.

Jul 24, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Shaj Mathew

Guests walk along the beach near the Botel pool on Fire Island in Long Island, New York, 1976.

The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires

His 1992 novel Love Junkie might be one of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era.

Jul 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wolf

E.E. Cummings, 1962.

The Peculiar Legacy of E.E. Cummings The Peculiar Legacy of E.E. Cummings

Revisiting his first book, The Enormous Room, a reader can get a sense of everything appealing and appalling in his work.

Jul 22, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David B. Hobbs

The first family to move into the Levittown development in New York, 1947.

Can You Put a Dollar Amount on White Privilege? Can You Put a Dollar Amount on White Privilege?

Tracie McMillan’s The White Bonus attempts to quantify the literal cost of racism in America.

Jul 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kristen Martin

A figure looks at the dynamic map board showing power distribution through California’s electrical grids in the control center of the California Independent System Operator, 2004.

The World’s Problems Explained in One Issue: Electricity The World’s Problems Explained in One Issue: Electricity

Brett Christophers’s account of the market-induced failure to transition to renewables is his latest entry in a series of books demystifying a multi-pronged global crisis.

Jul 17, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Trevor Jackson

The first family to move into the Levittown development in New York, 1947.

The Planetary Vision of Soviet Russia’s Great Modernist Novel The Planetary Vision of Soviet Russia’s Great Modernist Novel

Andrey Platonov’s masterpiece Chevengur imagined a politics of solidarity that placed at its center the health of the planet.

Jul 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Maria Chehonadskih

Christina Ramberg, “Untitled (Hand),” 1971.

Christina Ramberg’s Public Secrets Christina Ramberg’s Public Secrets

A look at the life and work of one Chicago's great 20th-century painters.

Jul 15, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, 2019.

The Rise and Fall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe The Rise and Fall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

How a movie studio and its head honcho redefined moviemaking for the worst.

Jul 11, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kyle Paoletta

Anya Taylor-Joy in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.”

Why Did “Furiosa” Flop? Why Did “Furiosa” Flop?

A web of interconnected reasons might explain why George Miller’s long-awaited new entry to his Mad Max series failed in the box office.

Jul 10, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

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