Terence Davies’s Counter-Séance Terence Davies’s Counter-Séance
A Quiet Passion doesn’t pretend to recall the skeptical spirit of Emily Dickinson to the land of the living but rather projects you into her departed world.
Mar 28, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Ambiguous Legacy of Obama’s Foreign Policy The Ambiguous Legacy of Obama’s Foreign Policy
He may have talked about precision and constraint when it came to the national-security state, but he ultimately failed to leave us with a new strategic vision.
Mar 23, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Karen J. Greenberg
Elif Batuman’s Bold and Defiantly Imperfect novel Elif Batuman’s Bold and Defiantly Imperfect novel
Elif Batuman’s debut novel reminds us that part of the novel’s genius that it made room for the extraneous and the unplanned
Mar 22, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Evan Kindley
In Brexit’s Wake In Brexit’s Wake
A new book about Brexit captures the deeper crisis undergirding Britain’s bid to leave the EU.
Mar 21, 2017 / Books & the Arts / John Harris
The Model of Perfection in Morgan Parker’s Poems The Model of Perfection in Morgan Parker’s Poems
The poet allows the struggles and the messiness of life—with a particular focus on black womanhood—to breathe.
Mar 17, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Soto
Weeping Cherry Weeping Cherry
On a plateau, with little volcanic mountains, a muddy river, dangerous when the snow melts, a fertile valley, cattle breeders, and a music academy, a tall, handsome, agile people,…
Mar 16, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Henri Cole
When Downtown Was Up When Downtown Was Up
A new exhibition on New York’s artist-run galleries reminds us of a vibrant but now distant past.
Mar 16, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
The Serendipiter’s Journey The Serendipiter’s Journey
Gay Talese’s eye for detail turned out to be not only his strength but also his greatest weakness.
Mar 15, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Michelle Dean
The Enduring Struggle The Enduring Struggle
Frederick Douglass’s radical vision of democratic politics.
Mar 14, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Matthew Karp
Atwood Road Atwood Road
(in memory, Jonathan Schell) A mile from Slough Pond’s glacial hush, a folded newspaper hat kept your bashed head cool, like the kite you made, three decades ago, from paper and tw…
Mar 9, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Cynthia Zarin