Claire Messud’s Remarkable Experiment in Historical Fiction Claire Messud’s Remarkable Experiment in Historical Fiction
Chronicling a pied-noir family across generations and continents, she examines the moral and political responsibilities a novelist owes their kin and their readers.
May 22, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lily Meyer
The Many Worlds of HBO’s “The Sympathizer” The Many Worlds of HBO’s “The Sympathizer”
The adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel is a study of migration—between identities and countries and also between different historical periods and genres.
May 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte
The Uses and Misuses of Spinoza The Uses and Misuses of Spinoza
The beguiling Dutch philosopher’s life and work is prone to misunderstandings and misreadings. A recent biography goes so far as to recruit him into the culture war.
May 20, 2024 / Books & the Arts / FT
The Roots of Trans Women’s Unjust Treatment The Roots of Trans Women’s Unjust Treatment
Jules Gill-Peterson’s A Short History of Trans Misogyny is an essential primer on the colonial and racist origins of hatred against those who refuse to adhere to the gender binary...
May 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / McKenzie Wark
What’s Ailing Prestige TV? What’s Ailing Prestige TV?
In Netflix’s big budget series 3 Body Problem, the flaws of this era of streaming is laid bare.
May 15, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi
Marty Peretz and the Travails of American Liberalism Marty Peretz and the Travails of American Liberalism
From his New Left days to his neoliberalism and embrace of interventionism, The Controversialist is a portrait of his own political trajectory and that of American liberalism too....
May 14, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jeet Heer
The Radical World-making of Joanna Russ The Radical World-making of Joanna Russ
In her science fiction, the novelist offered not only an astringent critiques of the present but also bold visions of the future.
May 13, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie Burt
Keith Haring and the Downtown Art Revolution Keith Haring and the Downtown Art Revolution
A new biography tells the story of not only Haring’s life but also the exhilarating world of New York art in the 1970s and 80s.
May 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sarah Schulman
Vinson Cunningham’s Searching Novel of Faith and Politics Vinson Cunningham’s Searching Novel of Faith and Politics
In Great Expectations, Cunningham examines the hope and aspirations of the Obama generation.
May 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Tope Folarin
Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom
A new career-spanning book offers a portrait of Painter’s career as a historian, essayist, and most recently visual artist.
May 7, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques