Books & the Arts

The Last Lennon File The Last Lennon File

The controversy over newly released files on John Lennon is less about Lennon than about excessive government secrecy.

Dec 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener

Within the Context of No Context Within the Context of No Context

Reviews of Blood Diamond, Inland Empire, The Good German and The History Boys.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Two Hayings Two Hayings

My grandfather and I, with Riley the horse, took four days to hay the acres of grass from the fields on both sides of the house. After Riley pulled the mowing machine

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Donald Hall

A Painter of Our Time A Painter of Our Time

Diego Velázquez was a restless innovator, a painter who slyly revealed the ordinariness of his exalted subjects--one is almost tempted to call him modern.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

A View From the Bridge A View From the Bridge

Hart Crane, one of America's greatest poets, relished the extremes that eventually destroyed him.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Melanie Rehak

Waltzing With Warlords Waltzing With Warlords

Five years after the United States ousted the Taliban, optimism about Afghanistan's future is evaporating. Three new books shed light on what went wrong.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Peter Bergen

The Soviet Union, R.I.P.? The Soviet Union, R.I.P.?

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost--and the people paid the price.

Dec 13, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stephen F. Cohen

Battleground Cinema Battleground Cinema

Video activists and independent filmmakers are on the ground in war zones from Iraq to Lebanon and Gaza, using documentaries as instruments of peacemaking.

Dec 8, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Joseph Huff-Hannon

The Anthropic Principle The Anthropic Principle

Two red drinks--pure alcohol, with a maraschino cherry--in the bar next door, deep in the afternoon. While I hide in my

Dec 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Eleanor Lerman

The Mayans The Mayans

The scowl is caught in jadeite. The flattened face on a green bead displayed in the orchestral light of the museum also boards the train on Steinway Street.

Dec 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Eleanor Lerman

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