Books & the Arts

Orphans, Girl sewing in a room in an orphanage, Victorian, German 19th Centur

The Problem of the Orphan Plot The Problem of the Orphan Plot

The child welfare system has served as a convenient narrative device for novels, podcasts, and the like. A new book interrogates what we think we know about foster care.

Jul 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emi Nietfeld

Martha Graham performing in 1962.

Martha Graham’s Movement Martha Graham’s Movement

A recent biography dives into the choreographer's role as both an artist and figure of early American modernism.

Jul 19, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emily Hawk

Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name?

Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name? Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name?

An interview with Clara E. Mattei about how liberal economists help quash working class movements and her new book The Capital Order. 

Jul 18, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Teamster protest in 2004 in Seattle, WA.

What Does It Take to Win a Strike? What Does It Take to Win a Strike?

John Womack's Labor Power and Strategy makes the case that by targeting strategic industries, workers can not only win power for themselves but also for labor generally.

Jul 17, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Bacon

Sculpture of the Greek poet Sappho, 1880.

In the Shadow of Sappho In the Shadow of Sappho

Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho is a unique work of fiction that resembles a group biography on the travails of 20th-century queer feminist artists. 

Jul 13, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Lily Houston Smith

Alison Mills Newman

The Strange Legacy of “Francisco,” a Novel of Black Bohemianism The Strange Legacy of “Francisco,” a Novel of Black Bohemianism

Over the years, Alison Mills Newman has become disillusioned with her work of experimental fiction. Its story is now caught between radical aesthetics and conservative politics.

Jul 12, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

“Portrait of Juan de Pareja,” by Diego Velázquez

The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja

Through the life of the 17th-century artist, we can find an entangled history of slavery, Black figuration, and art.

Jul 11, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hunter Himes

Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace

Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace

While most of his studies of dislocation were set in the present, in his new novel he examines a lost past.

Jul 10, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Adam Kirsch

Orizaba, Veracruz State, Mexico.

A Dark Tour Through Fernanda Melchor’s Veracruz A Dark Tour Through Fernanda Melchor’s Veracruz

Before she was a novelist, she covered crime and human interest for Mexican magazines. A collection of her nonfiction, This Is Not Miami,shows the building blocks of her fiction.&n...

Jul 6, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Laura Adamczyk

A scene from “Asteroid City.”

Is “Asteroid City” Wes Anderson’s Greatest Film? Is “Asteroid City” Wes Anderson’s Greatest Film?

In his latest film, Anderson asks us how art and storytelling give our lives meaning.

Jul 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte

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