Books & the Arts

‘Think of Me With Joy’

‘Think of Me With Joy’ ‘Think of Me With Joy’

The worlds of Sholem Aleichem.

Jan 22, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Julia M. Klein

Notes for the Translation of an Ancient Fragment Notes for the Translation of an Ancient Fragment

[She?] pale curtain fire behind it scent of split rock [She] as wind slendered in grass [She] soft path down which [Unknown refrain] Roughened blue [of eyes, of waters?] Steel [of her voice, of weather?]… Apple [her skin? its white cliffs/sting?] the cricket [cricket] climbing All this! [O She!] [Unknown refrain] Sea so blue [a handful, blue] Those glass lips say I shouldn’t say this her blouse slips dawn [or down] Sound [verb] with wide-eyed hands [Unknown refrain] She throws [we throw?] live flowers on fire they [flowers or limbs?] blend smooth as flames Though high stars circling will [how long how long?] pick our bones clean [Unknown refrain]

Jan 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / James Richardson

An Interview With David Broza

An Interview With David Broza An Interview With David Broza

The Israeli musician shares his thoughts on the American Jewish community and collaborating with Palestinian artists.

Jan 16, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

The Battle Hymn of the War on Poverty

The Battle Hymn of the War on Poverty The Battle Hymn of the War on Poverty

How the call to empathy helped mobilize a nation.

Jan 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Sasha Abramsky

Pictures Without an Exhibition

Pictures Without an Exhibition Pictures Without an Exhibition

The Brooklyn Museum’s massive show of war photography is a wasted opportunity.

Jan 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Susie Linfield

Casual Opulence

Casual Opulence Casual Opulence

Denise Levertov’s Collected Poems.

Jan 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Adam Plunkett

Unreal Cities?

Unreal Cities? Unreal Cities?

Do “smart” urban automation projects have more in common with Jane Jacobs or Le Corbusier?

Jan 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Catherine Tumber

Paris! Paris! Paris! Paris!

All reds come in the shape of lips. Even—s’il vous plaît—our shy little Mazovian cherries. So we shall write with a promiscuous tongue and instead of a period—make a lip print. At the railway station buffet in Radom we drink beer, and the world seen through a full mug is yellowed with the fright of Van Gogh, and a mug—mon Dieu!—also has no ear. Paris! Paris! Ai, dana, da dana! We climb atop our dresser stands and dream of the avant-garde’s New Trick: The Straight Line, which is a stem, and at its end hangs a lip-colored cherry. Oh, sweet drop of Marseillaise, little planet of our malignancy, flow down, drop into our thin borschts! We geometricians of form, puddle-jumpers into others’ imaginations, are waiting for you. And let the folk sing along: Paris! Paris! Ai dana, da dana! (translated from the Polish by Jennifer Grotz and Piotr Sommer)

Jan 14, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Jerzy Ficowski

Blown Away by ‘Grounded’: Drone Warfare Up Close and Personal

Blown Away by ‘Grounded’: Drone Warfare Up Close and Personal Blown Away by ‘Grounded’: Drone Warfare Up Close and Personal

A new play by George Brant brings home the human costs of America’s remote killing machine.

Jan 14, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Bob Dreyfuss

This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Passion of Amiri Baraka

This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Passion of Amiri Baraka This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Passion of Amiri Baraka

We published some of his earliest poems as well as his great 1964 essay on Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay.

Jan 11, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Katrina vanden Heuvel

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