Books & the Arts

Naoto Kan and the End of ‘Japan Inc.’

Naoto Kan and the End of ‘Japan Inc.’ Naoto Kan and the End of ‘Japan Inc.’

Criticism of the government’s response to the catastrophe has obscured major political changes.

Mar 30, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Tim Shorrock

Sounds and Sweet Airs: Introducing Lyric Nation Sounds and Sweet Airs: Introducing Lyric Nation

A new audio dossier features poets who have been published in The Nation reading selections of their work.

Mar 28, 2011 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella

Three Poems by Nathaniel Mackey Three Poems by Nathaniel Mackey

"Parlay Cheval Ou," excerpt from "Lone Coast Anacrusis," "Song of the Andoumboulou: 77"

Mar 28, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Nathaniel Mackey

Three Poems by Jennifer Moxley Three Poems by Jennifer Moxley

"The Logic of Survival," "On the Face of It," "The Quest"

Mar 28, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Moxley

Five Poems by Peter Gizzi Five Poems by Peter Gizzi

"On What Became of Mathew Brady's Battle Photographs," "Lullaby," "Eclogues," "True Discourse on Power," "Oversong"

Mar 28, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Peter Gizzi

Elizabeth Taylor, Al Jazeera and the Raid on Entebbe

Elizabeth Taylor, Al Jazeera and the Raid on Entebbe Elizabeth Taylor, Al Jazeera and the Raid on Entebbe

How a Hollywood star offered herself in a hostage trade.

Mar 25, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener

‘If I Turn Traitor…’ ‘If I Turn Traitor…’

Eric Alterman reviews music and Reed Richardson parses the ethics of sports journalism.

Mar 25, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

Possible Humans: On Juan José Saer

Possible Humans: On Juan José Saer Possible Humans: On Juan José Saer

The achievement of Juan José Saer’s fiction, next to its sensuousness, is its creation of an all-engulfing present.

Mar 23, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Lorna Scott Fox

Cats Can Cats Can

You’re feeling silly, but someone said that cats can see ghosts.   So you go to the door with a saucer of milk, and just then the ghost wakes up   from a deep sleep and bleeds a little into the sink.   Or not the sink, but a bed, or rather a head now held up by a bed. Or whatever. It doesn’t matter.   Choosing your words carefully makes no difference to a cat or a ghost.   Look at your backyard. Does the grass care what the frost heave thinks? Contour is all,   even when hidden. The loose overburden covering a buried cavity   is delicately balanced. When runoff- storage ponds seep into the folds   of the brain, the additional weight can trigger a collapse   called a sinkhole, where ghosts bleed into the cracks. Cats can see it.

Mar 23, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Friedlander

Shelf Life: On Poets and Painters Shelf Life: On Poets and Painters

Tibor de Nagy’s Painters & Poets; Bill Berkson’s For the Ordinary Artist; William Corbett’s Albert York.

Mar 23, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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