In Search of Sam Cooke In Search of Sam Cooke
A womanizing gospel king and black-pride pop star, Sam Cooke led a short life filled with contradiction.
Sep 22, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Robert Christgau
Readers Respond to Sharon Olds Readers Respond to Sharon Olds
Readers respond to poet Sharon Olds's decision to decline Laura Bush's invitation to dine at the White House.
Sep 21, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Our Readers
Visionaries Wanted Visionaries Wanted
New homes for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina need not be the penitentiary-style public housing we've come to dread. Bring in architects who know how to create human-scale dwe...
Sep 19, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas von Hoffman
New World Symphony New World Symphony
Joseph Horowitz diligently lays out the immense problems that face American classical music today, and his warnings cannot go unheeded.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Russell Platt
Barbara Ehrenreich’s White Collar Blues Barbara Ehrenreich’s White Collar Blues
Barbara Ehrenreich probes a deeper level of white-collar angst: people who lose or quit their corporate jobs and routinely spend months, even years, finding another.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Michael Kazin
Rushdie’s Receding Talent Rushdie’s Receding Talent
It has almost become a sadness to review a novel by Salman Rushdie. Shalimar the Clown is no exception.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Lee Siegel
Zadie Smith’s Indecision Zadie Smith’s Indecision
It can't be easy to rein in a writer as successful as Zadie Smith. Her new novel, On Beauty, proves it's almost impossible.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Levee Town Levee Town
There are decades of memos from engineers and contractors setting forth budgets to build up the Gulf Coast's levees, but Bush wouldn't let them be.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn
Bread, Roses and the Flood Bread, Roses and the Flood
The only bright spot in this man-made disaster has been the wave of public outrage at the Administration's failure to provide aid to the most vulnerable.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner
Out of Touch on ‘The OC’ Out of Touch on ‘The OC’
What makes Fox's The OC so addictive is its California-kissed story lines and appealing characters. But what is it about women the show doesn't understand?
Sep 14, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Christine Smallwood