Complaint Complaint
Walk out the front door, the dog tugs Boyishly at the leash. I sit at my desk. A breeze Floats up from Oakdale on the hottest day of the year. This is the climate of reason. But in the climate of no reason I look out the window at midnight. My mother appears in a red coat, raking the leaves. Always she wore that coat in autumn, The tattered wool, the large Black buttons, But only to rake leaves. Why my house was built on the dividing line I cannot say. Walk out the front door, Somebody dies. Walk out the back, The rabbit jumps out of his hole. Bedroom in one world, kitchen in another— You could say it’s always September here, Every day the first day of school. The bus is waiting. I’ve got books, my lunch, My gym clothes in a plastic bag.
Jan 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
Shelf Life Shelf Life
The Complete Jean Vigo, Travis Wilkerson’s An Injury to One.
Jan 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Akiva Gottlieb
The Foundation Business: On Olivier Zunz The Foundation Business: On Olivier Zunz
There’s more to American nonprofits than the success of wealthy donors and their large foundations.
Jan 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Pablo Eisenberg
Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’ Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’
The swirl of controversy over Jodi Kantor’s biography reflects deep cultural anxieties about the limits we place on women in power.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ilyse Hogue
The Wicked Art of Caricature The Wicked Art of Caricature
Five centuries of political pans by a lot of old masters and a few new ones, on exhibit at the Met.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Edward Sorel
All that Lore: On James Wolcott All that Lore: On James Wolcott
The critic James Wolcott has been gamely fighting losing battles for most of his career.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Joan Didion’s Blue Nights, Peter Van Buren’s We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Alexandra Schwartz
Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use
Have copyright laws failed?
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Caleb Crain
Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett
In Assumption a murder mystery becomes a lesson in how much we do not know.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami
The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan
An artist known as a trickster and showman stages a disappearing act at the Guggenheim.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky