Books & the Arts

Mario Vargas Llosa, London, 1986.

The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa

A recent collection, The Call of the Tribe, explains why the Peruvian writer rejected the left and embraced the thinking of Friedrich Hayek and his ilk.

Jul 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jack Hanson

Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo in New York City, 2022.

Yo La Tengo’s Lifelong Love Story Yo La Tengo’s Lifelong Love Story

Across decades, the venerable band has quietly pioneered an intimate form of rock, at once adventurous and deeply personal.

Jul 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

Josh Hawley, 2021.

Is Josh Hawley All Right? Is Josh Hawley All Right?

His new book Manhood advocates for a return to ancient values of family and masculinity. In reality, it reveals the Missouri senator’s weird fixations.

Jun 29, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Ginny Hogan

The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans

The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans

To borrow a phrase from the photographer and activist Samra Habib, “We have always been here”—or, at least, people somewhat like us have always been here.

Jun 28, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie Burt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his inauguration in 1933.

When FDR Took On the Supreme Court When FDR Took On the Supreme Court

The standard narrative of Roosevelt's court-packing efforts casts them as a failure. But what if they were a success?

Jun 27, 2023 / Books & the Arts / John Fabian Witt

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

His 1980s novels take the story of America’s postwar years, usually seen as a triumphal rise to perpetual dominance, and converts it into one about a long and chaotic decline.

Jun 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb

The Atacama desert, 2022.

Nona Fernandez and the Black Hole of Collective Memory Nona Fernandez and the Black Hole of Collective Memory

Her book-length essay Voyager examines life after Pinochet—and the disjunctures in public remembering the era produced—through an exploration of the stars. 

Jun 22, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Amanda Paige Inman

Jimmie Durham in London, 2015.

The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham

A retrospective in Naples magnifies the mystery of the conceptual artist’s work. 

Jun 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Cormac McCarthy, 1973.

Cormac McCarthy’s Unforgiving Parables of American Empire Cormac McCarthy’s Unforgiving Parables of American Empire

He demonstrated how the frontier wasn’t an incubator of democratic equality but a place of unrelenting pain, cruelty, and suffering.

Jun 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Greg Grandin

Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions

Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions

Since his death, his music has only become more influential and more mysterious.

Jun 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

x