Books & the Arts

Hawks

Hawks Hawks

Hawks kettling on the thermals high above the Appalachians on their way south—it looks like thought, the mind floating by way of association, veering and floating, circling back to…

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Elizabeth Arnold

Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie Misses the Magic Rushdie Misses the Magic

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights has all the markers of a Salman Rushdie novel, but it’s not a great book.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier

Henry Kissinger, December 1968.

The Many Manipulations of Henry Kissinger The Many Manipulations of Henry Kissinger

In his new biography, Niall Ferguson is blind to his subject’s recklessness and treachery.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / David Milne

Werner Herzog, 1991.

Werner Herzog’s Maniacal Quests Werner Herzog’s Maniacal Quests

A newly published travel journal shows how walking, like filmmaking, brings us to the naked core of existence.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg

Hodgepodge, Mismatch, and Wild Disproportion

Hodgepodge, Mismatch, and Wild Disproportion Hodgepodge, Mismatch, and Wild Disproportion

Dueling satirical films about white-supremacist America, and how not to be an imbecile when criticizing Star Wars.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’

‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’ ‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’

A brilliant exhibit in London uses archival fragments to tell a story of violence and creation.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Yasmine Seale

Shahab Ahmed.

How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time? How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time?

A new book by the late scholar Shahab Ahmed reveals the capaciousness, complexity, and contradictions of Islam.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Elias Muhanna

Joseph LeDoux.

Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom? Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom?

The neuroscience of fear is incomplete without an account of philosophy and politics.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Simon Wolfe Taylor

Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists

Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists

Adrian Tomine’s universe features a society of contingent values, ill-defined expectations, and diminishing options.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

Burnt Umber & Ultramarine (1993), by Yun Hyong-keun.

It’s Time To Stop Ignoring South Korean Abstract Art It’s Time To Stop Ignoring South Korean Abstract Art

Korean monochrome painting, or tansaekhwa, originated in a deep ambivalence about painting.

Dec 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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