Books & the Arts

Top Ten Songs About Nuclear War Top Ten Songs About Nuclear War

Fear of nuclear apocalypse has provided serious creative juice for songwriters and musicians of all genres.

Aug 5, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Peter Rothberg

The Democratic Paintbrush of Lucian Freud The Democratic Paintbrush of Lucian Freud

Freud made the case through his art that no body type inherently possesses more capacity to compel than another.

Aug 1, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Margaret Spillane

Many Facets, No Overview: On the Venice Biennale

Many Facets, No Overview: On the Venice Biennale Many Facets, No Overview: On the Venice Biennale

This year's edition of the Venice Biennale sinks under sprawl and overfamiliarity.

Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Hard Against Time: On Roy Fisher

Hard Against Time: On Roy Fisher Hard Against Time: On Roy Fisher

The Midlands poet Roy Fisher has never aspired to a readership. All the more reason to welcome his Selected Poems.

Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko

Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon

Isaac Casaubon was a model citizen of the republic of letters—a community more durable than any church and broader than academia.

Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Sam Stark

Yahoo! (A Lion, a Duke, the Tax-Rate Fungi) Yahoo! (A Lion, a Duke, the Tax-Rate Fungi)

If men read epic poetry in bed, And never change their Eeyore underwear, On bunny kidney they’ve unwisely fed: That’s whorehouse food, and most unwholesome fare.   If lotus eaters kick spondaic asses, And love trochaic bunny ears the best, It starts a war between the lower classes And puts poetic hooey to the test.   If op art poet laureates go bald, And end up haunting Fred on Scooby-Doo, It’s they who to a nunnery are hauled: They have some vinyl bunny ears for you.   On Yahoo! you are only who you are, And no one there is anyone… so far.

Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / K. Silem Mohammad

Russian Hero Russian Hero

A bet on a horse in the 1949 Grand National resulted in the largest collective transfer of wealth ever to communism's stalwarts in Britain.

Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn

Three Poems by Benjamin Friedlander Three Poems by Benjamin Friedlander

"Cats Can," "Anchor Baby," "Chick Flick"

Jul 25, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Friedlander

Special Schadenfreude Edition… Special Schadenfreude Edition…

Eric reviews Paul McCartney, Raul Malo and Elvis Costello, and Reed sees the ghost of the Republican party's past.

Jul 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

Gary Shteyngart Interview—The Future, With Fox Prime Ultra and the Bipartisan Party: A Super Sad True Love Story Gary Shteyngart Interview—The Future, With Fox Prime Ultra and the Bipartisan Party: A Super Sad True Love Story

A novelist imagines politics in “the near future.”

Jul 18, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener

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