The Body Artist The Body Artist
Two biographies of Thomas Eakins reveal the art world's attitudes about the painter's bodily obsessions: Was he a curious innocent, a brilliant anatomist or a dirty old man?
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Peter Plagens
For Reasons of State For Reasons of State
Two new books on the French Revolution examine Robespierre's role in advocating terror as an instrument of government, raising compelling questions about state-sponsored terror in ...
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Lynn Hunt
The Composer’s Craft The Composer’s Craft
In Stravinsky, the Second Exile, Stephen Walsh chronicles the composer's late years, disentangling the realities of his life and work from the published assertions of a self-servin...
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Paul Mitchinson
Love in the Ruins Love in the Ruins
Irène Némirovsky's Suite Française, published fifty-two years after she perished at Auschwitz, offers an unsparing critique of France under the German occupati...
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Alice Kaplan
Dead Man Dead Man
Philip Roth's Everyman is a contemporary morality play that explores the author's obsessions with health and virility, ecstasy and betrayal, and the certainty and solitude of death...
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Laughter in the Dark Laughter in the Dark
New translations of novels by exiled authors Roberto Bolaño and Ismail Kadare explore the bloody crossroads where literature, politics and self-absorption converge.
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Banville
Yumi, Yumi, Yumi Yumi, Yumi, Yumi
Why is it that We the People are so obsessed with whether singing our national anthem in Spanish is an affront to our union?
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Patricia J. Williams
Bonding With the Babe Bonding With the Babe
Bashing Barry Bonds has become a national sport, as the flawed slugger nears matching Babe Ruth's record. But hasn't anyone considered the faults of the Babe?
May 8, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Dave Zirin
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Reviews of four stellar films: Three Times, Art School Confidential, Lady Vengeance and Army of Shadows.
May 4, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Discovery/The Nation ’06 Prizewinners Discovery/The Nation ’06 Prizewinners
Works by Nicky Beer, Sandy Tseng, Eric Leigh and Shara Lessley, winners of the Discovery/The Nation Joan Leiman Jacobson Poetry Prize.
May 4, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Grace Schulman