Books & the Arts

A Minimum Wage for Writers? ‘The Nation’ (Almost) Proposed It In 1912.

A Minimum Wage for Writers? ‘The Nation’ (Almost) Proposed It In 1912. A Minimum Wage for Writers? ‘The Nation’ (Almost) Proposed It In 1912.

There is no avoiding the inherently alienating consequences of trying to earn a living through the production of words.

May 30, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner

Eyeing the Left Coast: ‘The Nation’ on California, in 1922 and 2003

Eyeing the Left Coast: ‘The Nation’ on California, in 1922 and 2003 Eyeing the Left Coast: ‘The Nation’ on California, in 1922 and 2003

‘Wide and luminous’ or ‘grid-locked and addled on speed’?

May 22, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner

Favorite Hallucinations

Favorite Hallucinations Favorite Hallucinations

Did Chris Marker think history to be not only an infinite book but a sacred one?

May 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Floats Like A Vulture

Floats Like A Vulture Floats Like A Vulture

Instead of rescuing forgotten truths, neocons like Charles Krauthammer devise novel fallacies.

May 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / George Scialabba

Good Enough?

Good Enough? Good Enough?

The amount of affordable housing in New York City is shrinking, and Mayor de Blasio’s development plans might not reverse the trend.

May 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Michael Sorkin

Come Explore the Treasure Chest That Is Our 1950 ‘Spring Books’ Issue

Come Explore the Treasure Chest That Is Our 1950 ‘Spring Books’ Issue Come Explore the Treasure Chest That Is Our 1950 ‘Spring Books’ Issue

Meditations on writers’ conferences, Schlesinger Jr. on America, an Auden poem.

May 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner

Entertainment Companies Get $1.5 Billion in Tax Breaks Each Year—Yet They’re Offshoring Musicians’ Jobs

Entertainment Companies Get $1.5 Billion in Tax Breaks Each Year—Yet They’re Offshoring Musicians’ Jobs Entertainment Companies Get $1.5 Billion in Tax Breaks Each Year—Yet They’re Offshoring Musicians’ Jobs

Currently, 39 states and Puerto Rico subsidize the entertainment business to the tune of about $1.5 billion. Yet many of these agreements lack concrete mandates to direct how compa...

May 14, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Michelle Chen

Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece?

Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece? Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece?

With its lack of art and absence of thought, the blockbuster Norwegian novel disappoints.

May 13, 2014 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz

Nobody Else Sounds Like Lydia Davis

Nobody Else Sounds Like Lydia Davis Nobody Else Sounds Like Lydia Davis

Because nobody else thinks like her.

May 13, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Alexandra Schwartz

What Was Democracy?

What Was Democracy? What Was Democracy?

Democracy was once a comforting fiction. Has it become an uninhabitable one?

May 13, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney and Yascha Mounk

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