“Circling Birdies” “Circling Birdies”
In cartoon worlds, if you’re struck on the head the small birds that encircle your scalp are known as a “halo” or “circling birdies”—a cartoonist’s motif or trope or idiom. Trope i…
Feb 11, 2016 / Books & the Arts / John Kinsella
Human Nature Shines Through Human Nature Shines Through
Garth Greenwell’s exquisite first novel outlines the shape of desire by filling in everything around it.
Feb 10, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Damon Galgut
Memories of the Mao Era Memories of the Mao Era
Ji Xianlin’s memoir is the most widely read account of the Cultural Revolution in China. Has it changed the country’s amnesia about its bloody past?
Feb 10, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Chenxin Jiang
Vladimir Sorokin’s Absurdist Excess Vladimir Sorokin’s Absurdist Excess
Even the Russian author’s most sincere explorations tend toward brutal deadpan satire, cartoonish extremes of violence, comically unsexy sex, and flatulence.
Feb 4, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ben Ehrenreich
In Praise of Lawrence Alloway In Praise of Lawrence Alloway
The former Nation art critic was a great intellectual resource among art writers in the 1960s and ’70s, and a revival of his work is under way.
Feb 4, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
The Trials of Aaron Swartz The Trials of Aaron Swartz
A collection of Swartz’s writings is a record of a mind thinking, beautifully, against itself.
Feb 3, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ava Kofman
Israel’s Willful Blindness Israel’s Willful Blindness
Two films explore why the Israeli peace movement collapsed, and, taken together, might advance you toward an answer.
Feb 3, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Origins of Blood Libel The Origins of Blood Libel
E.M. Rose reconsiders where the anti-Semitic slur came from, and how it stuck around.
Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Madeleine Schwartz
J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life
For the South African author, the selves we write and read may be truer than any other.
Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld
The Future of the Arab The Future of the Arab
Riad Sattouf’s biting graphic memoir ignores the big picture of politics in the Middle East and focuses instead on daily life and the imposition of authority through violence.
Jan 27, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ursula Lindsey