History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg wanted it all: books and music, sex and art, evening walks and the revolution. Her lover, Leo Jogiches, told her this was nonsense.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick
Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age
Ann Blair’s Too Much to Know explains how across the centuries the profusion of information has always inspired readers to invent shortcuts to knowledge.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen
From The Archive: Five Pieces by James Baldwin From The Archive: Five Pieces by James Baldwin
The publication of The Cross of Redemption is an occasion to revisit some of the many fine essays and reviews written for The Nation by Baldwin, who was a member of the magazine's...
Apr 11, 2011 / Books & the Arts / The Nation
Reclaiming the Politics of Freedom Reclaiming the Politics of Freedom
Since the ’70s, liberals and leftists have misidentified the source of conservatism’s appeal.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Corey Robin
On the Case: On Simon Wiesenthal On the Case: On Simon Wiesenthal
As Tom Segev’s biography makes clear, in the entire pantheon of Jewish superheroes there is no more unlikely figure than Simon Wiesenthal.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / D.D. Guttenplan
Swans and Zombies: Neoliberalism’s Permanent Contradiction Swans and Zombies: Neoliberalism’s Permanent Contradiction
Modern capital is in crisis, and neoliberalism, which redistributes wealth upward, keeps the zombie shambling forward, hungry and blindly grasping.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Clover
Rattles Rattles
When I finally woke up, the nurse handed me my baby. “He’s pretty,” she said, plopping him. His eyes looked slanted. The sun shone in. I squinted. I tried to remember the last thing I remembered. A dance in the OR, people scrambling all around me. A nurse with horns. A doctor with a scalpel, another looking toothless. Their faces, all veiny. My husband, where was he, with a cherry. My baby cried, his voice squeaky. I hurt from where they took him. Shh, I said. Shh. I held him. I was cold. He got quiet, closed his eyes and I asked the nurse where was my husband. She wore scrubs with an array of colored rattles. Yellow glasses. Something smelled like apples. She said, Your baby’s probably hungry. I tried to move my arms, to give him, but a sharp pain shot through me. Ahh! I said. Please, I said to the nurse. Can you? She took him, shushing him, bouncing him out to the hallway.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Kim Chinquee
‘You’re So Pretty’: On Laurel Nakadate ‘You’re So Pretty’: On Laurel Nakadate
Most of what we think we see in the photos and films of Laurel Nakadate is our own projection.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Elizabeth Taylor: What Becomes a Legend Most Elizabeth Taylor: What Becomes a Legend Most
Remembering the icon, a pro at sex and survival.
Mar 30, 2011 / Books & the Arts / JoAnn Wypijewski
When Nothing Happens: On David Bezmozgis When Nothing Happens: On David Bezmozgis
The Free World is a novel about lives suspended at a moment when everything is uncertain. It is about frustration. Unfortunately, it too is frustrating.
Mar 30, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier