Books & the Arts

The Upside of Censorship

The Upside of Censorship The Upside of Censorship

Sometimes the censor is art’s best friend.

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / JoAnn Wypijewski

Ronald Reagan Superstar Ronald Reagan Superstar

Reagan proved that deficits don't matter—and truth doesn't either.

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

Selling History Short in Mississippi Selling History Short in Mississippi

Why is Haley Barbour so eager to turn Mississippi into a civil rights tourist attraction?

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Gary Younge

Where Hunger Goes: On the Green Revolution

Where Hunger Goes: On the Green Revolution Where Hunger Goes: On the Green Revolution

Nick Cullather’s The Hungry World teaches us that US agricultural assistance in Asia during the cold war was a Green Counterrevolution.

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / David Rieff

Spring Spring

Larvae harden into adults, into the complexity of distinct anatomy— windowed wings, legs like stitches—tossing off the sodden blanket of the soft body,   their innocence lisping over the pig, oomphs and fizzes forming a transcript of triumphs, but what does it mean to win, out here?   Spring’s raffle: who will live, who’ll become distressed and wish for a place to climb in.   I’m watching the air fill with the born-again, resting on the corpse of the rotted oak. Tomorrow I’ll drag it, chain-sawed to thick tablets, into the woods.   No tragedy to watch it go. The insects have broken from that burrow into warm air. Snow has melted from bark and pooled. With nowhere to turn.

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Paula Bohince

Being in the World: On James Miller

Being in the World: On James Miller Being in the World: On James Miller

With Examined Lives, James Miller offers a serious and readable study of the relationship between philosophy and life conduct.

Feb 17, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Richard Wolin

All Alter-Review Slacker Friday All Alter-Review Slacker Friday

Reviewing two shows in the Lincoln Center's "American Songbook" series, plus the Cowboy Junkies.

Feb 11, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

Dishonoring Reagan Dishonoring Reagan

The former president set in motion a sizable slice of the fantasies destroying America.

Feb 10, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn

The Dying Swan: On Jennifer Homans

The Dying Swan: On Jennifer Homans The Dying Swan: On Jennifer Homans

Jennifer Homans thinks ballet is dying, its masters dead and gone. But ballet, which exists in time and leaves no record, is always dying.

Feb 10, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Marina Harss

Crooked Sticks: On Utopianism Crooked Sticks: On Utopianism

At the utopian community of Fruitlands, vegetables were not only eaten. They were also imitated.

Feb 10, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Brenda Wineapple

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