Books & the Arts

SNL: Amy Poehler Raps About Palin and Alaska SNL: Amy Poehler Raps About Palin and Alaska

Amy Poehler brings the house down with a Sarah Palin-inspired hip hop ode to Alaska and the McCain campaign.

Oct 20, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Saturday Night Live

Back Talk: Paul Offit Back Talk: Paul Offit

A doctor defends scientific research against the potentially fatal misperceptions of the anti-vaccine movement.

Oct 16, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Christine Smallwood

Walter Benjamin Forever: A Critic’s Coveted Afterlife Walter Benjamin Forever: A Critic’s Coveted Afterlife

Following the quirky, revolutionary life path of one of the most celebrated twentieth-century intellectuals.

Oct 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg

Rooted in Reconstruction: The First Wave of Black Congressmen Rooted in Reconstruction: The First Wave of Black Congressmen

Without the courage of the forgotten black legislators of the Reconstruction era, it would be impossible for a black man today to run for president.

Oct 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

Collateral Damage: Reporting the War in Iraq Collateral Damage: Reporting the War in Iraq

Three new books vividly portray the devastating impact of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Oct 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Chris Toensing

This Town Is Going Out of Business This Town Is Going Out of Business

[This town is going out of business that I call my brain] [the public space of my head got suburbed] [the heaven-heaped core of capital-] [ized stars is empty now as sleep is full] [of new words for new feelings like infrastructure-] [nostalgia or love-outside-the- citadel] [the past tense is tragedy while the present tense is comedy] [as all the empires and epochs have ended] [but for this one and then only out here] [in the late districts of the imagination] [in the old light of our pretty periphery]

Oct 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Clover

The Kingston Trio and the Red Scare The Kingston Trio and the Red Scare

The death of Nick Reynolds, one of the Kingston Trio, last week at 75, provoked fond memories of one era and painful reminders of another.

Oct 14, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Peter Dreier and Jim Vrabel

Civic Virtues: Gore Vidal’s Selected Essays Civic Virtues: Gore Vidal’s Selected Essays

A new collection of Gore Vidal's essays showcases five decades of literary and political criticism, with his mocking, disenchanted patriotism in all its eloquence.

Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / George Scialabba

Lords of Misrule: Thomas Frank Takes on the GOP Lords of Misrule: Thomas Frank Takes on the GOP

On the campaign trail, they're culture warriors; once in office, conservatives just follow the money.

Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Jefferson Decker

Credenzas of Fragmentation: Lobo Antunes’s Decadent Despair Credenzas of Fragmentation: Lobo Antunes’s Decadent Despair

In António Lobo Antunes's new novel, a lost boy despairs of finding a real family in the wasteland of his past.

Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Natasha Wimmer

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