Books & the Arts

The Colbert Rapport The Colbert Rapport

Like other prank campaigns, Stephen Colbert's bid for President promised brilliant satire. It's a shame he's called it quits.

Nov 7, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Larry Bogad

Will Rogers: The Bunkless Candidate Will Rogers: The Bunkless Candidate

"WHATEVER the other fellow don't do, we will." Thus refreshingly Will Rogers, the bunkless candidate for President, begins his campaign. It is, of course, a dangerous doctrine, b...

Nov 6, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Dorothy Van Doren

News From Nowhere News From Nowhere

Hip-hop star M.I.A. broadcasts the sound of those with one foot in the First World and the other in the global South.

Nov 1, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Jeff Chang

Playtime Playtime

The Surrealist dissident Raymond Queneau turned his writings into a lab for his experiments, and the results are still exhilarating.

Nov 1, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Mark Polizzotti

The View From Jantar Mantar The View From Jantar Mantar

The contradictions of parliamentary democracy in India have been a constant source of struggle and rich debate.

Nov 1, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Basharat Peer

The U.S. and the World (Editors’ Introduction) The U.S. and the World (Editors’ Introduction)

The 2008 election, more than any election in decades, will turn on questions of foreign policy and national security.

Nov 1, 2007 / Books & the Arts / The Nation

Memphis Is Also America Memphis Is Also America

The civil rights movement that erupted in 1968 revealed in a few swift weeks white America's failure to respond to the nonviolence of Dr. King, and black America's recoil into desp...

Oct 31, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Pat Watters

Shanker Blows Up the World Shanker Blows Up the World

The life and legacy of a fiery New York teachers' advocate gets caught in the crossfire of a changing liberal landscape.

Oct 25, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Thomas J. Sugrue

Play It (Over and Over Again) Play It (Over and Over Again)

Ben Ratliff's not-quite biography of John Coltrane considers the jazz legend's enduring influence.

Oct 25, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Travis A. Jackson

Revenants Revenants

In South African writer Zakes Mda's fiction, the past hovers like a ghost--seductive and terrifying.

Oct 25, 2007 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami

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