Books & the Arts

Donald Trump

Trump the Improviser? Trump the Improviser?

This candidate operates in a jazz-like fashion, but all he makes is unexpected noise.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

Point First, Shoot Later

Point First, Shoot Later Point First, Shoot Later

Two museum exhibitions emphasize possible approaches to how an artist can navigate the oceans of photography around us.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

The Selden map.

Before Europe’s Intrusion Before Europe’s Intrusion

A 17th-century map reinforces what few other than historians of China have known: It was an open and diverse world with a long tradition of maritime commerce.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen

Antonin Scalia.

What’s the Point of a Supreme Court Dissent? What’s the Point of a Supreme Court Dissent?

A recent book shows that, before Antonin Scalia, dissents were valuable to the Court. Now they may be endangering the institution.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell

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

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