Books & the Arts

A man fights a losing battle with insomnia by counting sheep, 1940.

A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless” A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless”

A French writer’s memoir of her insomnia tries to understand how central sleep is to cultural and intellectual history.

Mar 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alyse Burnside

Fables of the Lone Star Liberal

Fables of the Lone Star Liberal Fables of the Lone Star Liberal

A HBO documentary series helmed by Lawrence Wright unknowingly paints a picture of a state incapable of understanding how radically it has changed since its hard-right turn.

Mar 27, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sam Russek

The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls”

The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls” The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls”

Ethan Coen's horny homage to American film history's many strains of queer comedy highlights the collaborative aspect inherent in his project as a director.

Mar 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

A scene from “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World.”

Radu Jude’s Wild and Caustic Films Radu Jude’s Wild and Caustic Films

His latest, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, is a a digressive and transgressive movie of ideas about the social-media age.

Mar 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

“The Ricotta Eaters,” Vincenzo Campi (c.1585). Found in the Collection of Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon.

At Mathias Énard’s Table At Mathias Énard’s Table

Set between the 16th and 22nd centuries, The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild is a work of political comedy, fixated on class, climate, food, wine, and the afterlife.

Mar 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Dustin Illingworth

The Visions of Alice Coltrane

The Visions of Alice Coltrane The Visions of Alice Coltrane

In the years after her husband John’s death, the harpist discovered a sound all her own, a jazz rooted in acts of spirit and will.

Mar 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore

The Problematic Past, Present, and Future of Inequality Studies

The Problematic Past, Present, and Future of Inequality Studies The Problematic Past, Present, and Future of Inequality Studies

Branko Milanović’s century-spanning intellectual history of inequality in economic theory reveals the ideological reasons behind the field’s resurgence in the last few decades.

Mar 20, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

The United Farm Worker's 1,000 Mile March, 1975.

How Unions Are Made How Unions Are Made

A new history of labor organizing in Coachella tells us not only the story of the United Farm Workers but also how its rank-and-file members drove the union to success.

Mar 19, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Juan Ignacio Mora

Lucy Sante

Lucy Sante and the Solitude and Solidarity of Transitioning Lucy Sante and the Solitude and Solidarity of Transitioning

In her new memoir, I Heard Her Call My Name, Sante dissects her past in order to understand her future.

Mar 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie Burt

Molly Ranson, Nael Nacer, and Aria Shahghasemi in “Prayer for the French Republic.”

A Broadway Play’s Clumsy Intervention Into Antisemitism A Broadway Play’s Clumsy Intervention Into Antisemitism

Prayer for the French Republic is among a spate of recent dramas devoted to the precarity of Jewish life at the expense of solidarity.

Mar 14, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon

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