America, Through a Glass Darkly America, Through a Glass Darkly
An intellectual biography of Richard Hofstadter rides a wave of nostalgia for this artful historian and liberal icon of the 1950s and '60s.
Oct 5, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener
Not the President’s Men Not the President’s Men
A review of Frank Rich's The Greatest Story Ever Sold and two books on I.F. Stone shows how media politics have changed since the cold war. Now it's all about repeating the same fe...
Oct 5, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Powers
Death Trip Death Trip
Philip Roth and Joan Didion have each written compellingly about death, but their insights about dying and mourning signify a retreat from the world rather than an embrace of the f...
Oct 5, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Richard Goldstein
The Dubya Diaries The Dubya Diaries
"Some expert on CNN said, 'A stitch in time saves nine.' And I thought, Doesn't anyone speak clearly anymore? Nine what?"
Sep 28, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Rosecrans Baldwin
A Metaphysical Materialist A Metaphysical Materialist
Philosopher Walter Benjamin married Marxism and theology in an attempt to give hope to the hopeless.
Sep 28, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Richard Wolin
Modern Love Modern Love
Two new biographies of Clement Greenberg take the measure of an ambitious art critic who had a knack for predicting success.
Sep 28, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Screamin’ at the Machine Screamin’ at the Machine
We should be cheering at sports events and screaming at politicians. But these days, it's vice versa. Now that ESPN's Screamin' Stephen A. Smith is acting like a pundit, things cou...
Sep 26, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Dave Zirin
Dead Flowers Dead Flowers
Reviews of Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia and Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy.
Sep 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Father Knows Best Father Knows Best
Have you attacked the Founding Fathers lately? Know anyone who has? Gordon Wood knows you're out there, on a campaign to dehumanize Washington, Jefferson and their peers.
Sep 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas Guyatt
Laundry Laundry
Our cat, who's over nineteen, likes to sleep on the massed softness of a pile of shirts, two, three, four, flung on the floor but soon to be gathered up
Sep 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hadas