Books & the Arts

Trilling’s Sandbags: Lionel Trilling’s Critical Essays Trilling’s Sandbags: Lionel Trilling’s Critical Essays

Re-reading a literary critic who regarded intelligence as a moral imperative.

Dec 3, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Stefan Collini

Jarring Bottles: The Paintings of Giorgio Morandi Jarring Bottles: The Paintings of Giorgio Morandi

The paintings of Giorgio Morandi render new meaning to the term natura morta.

Dec 3, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto

‘Lost as Food and Won as a Coast’ ‘Lost as Food and Won as a Coast’

Is a new, computer-generated poetry anthology as intriguing--and boring--as the lifework of any fairly prolific poet?

Dec 2, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Beyond the Bailout State Beyond the Bailout State

If original thinking doesn't find a home among the Obama administration's Clinton-era Brainiacs, how can we move beyond the bailout state?

Dec 1, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Steve Fraser

Spreading the Wealth: Knowledge as Social Inheritance Spreading the Wealth: Knowledge as Social Inheritance

Amid the ruins of a new gilded age, the devalued and depressed American people are ready to demand more.

Nov 25, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Mark Engler

The House Folds: The Housing Market and Irrational Exuberance The House Folds: The Housing Market and Irrational Exuberance

Without a commitment to affordable housing for all, the ownership society remains a myth for many Americans.

Nov 25, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Max Fraser

Stolen Kisses: Iran’s Sexual Revolutions Stolen Kisses: Iran’s Sexual Revolutions

Is sexual promiscuity in Iran a sign of political ferment or of an unmoored generation's dissipated energies?

Nov 25, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Laura Secor

Unconditional Love Song Unconditional Love Song

Later she would remember it started to pour the storm blew everything out before the coffee finished its brew and she could finish reading a report on some boys holed up in a derelict house after stoning a swan to death she wrapped her head in a towel and sat down by the open window even though the sound of the river was not there the memory of the sound was even though her husband did not appear in the door talking to her about the day ahead the day ahead was there

Nov 25, 2008 / Books & the Arts / C.D. Wright

How Wood Works: The Riches and Limits of James Wood How Wood Works: The Riches and Limits of James Wood

James Wood may be the best literary critic we have, but the status he enjoys reveals just how far we have fallen.

Nov 19, 2008 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz

Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat

The intimate friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson takes wing in two new books.

Nov 19, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko

x