Books & the Arts

The American Sublime The American Sublime

Robert Smithson's epic earthwork, Spiral Jetty tends to render critics speechless.

Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto

Good Vibrations Good Vibrations

Orgasms used to be a secret, then they became a right. Now they're a duty. It's time to explode the myths.

Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Cristina Nehring

Requiem for a Dream Requiem for a Dream

Daniel Fuchs's The Golden West is best read as an author's requiem for the Hollywood he loved.

Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / David L. Ulin

Optimism of the Will Optimism of the Will

The rich legacy of former Nation editor and activist Carey McWilliams is on full display in three books.

Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Mike Davis

A Robertson Republican A Robertson Republican

Bush's paean to his staunchest ally's murderous impulses, with apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan.

Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Calvin Trillin

‘The Constant Gardener’: What the Movie Missed ‘The Constant Gardener’: What the Movie Missed

As Big Pharma increasingly turns to the Third World to test its products, this lush film will spark outrage, but glosses over the constant vigilance necessary to police drug trials...

Aug 30, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Sonia Shah

Neighbors Neighbors

A trio of film reviews: Wall, Tony Takitani and Red Eye.

Aug 25, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

It’s a Man’s, Man’s World It’s a Man’s, Man’s World

Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men seems designed as a calculated assault on the reader.

Aug 25, 2005 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz

Patriotic Bore Patriotic Bore

Two recent books on Tom Paine and on the unruly birth of US democracy reveal that liberal historians have become believers in the 'radicalism' of the American Revolution.

Aug 25, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Lazare

Life Among the Neo-Pagans Life Among the Neo-Pagans

Our reporter visits a "a magickal, psychedelic & multi-cultural" forest outing and asks, Are New Age, Old Religion believers an endangered species in Born Again America?

Aug 24, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Paul Krassner

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