Books & the Arts

Moses Goes Down Moses Goes Down

If upon reading the first sentence of Moses Isegawa's debut novel, Abyssinian Chronicles, in an Amsterdam bookstore a few years back, I quickly re-read it a few times and committ...

Mar 18, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Matt Steinglass

The Secret Sharer The Secret Sharer

Although the epigraph of Damon Galgut's novel is taken from Chekhov, it is the ghost of Graham Greene that hovers most palpably over The Good Doctor, and even in the cadence of i...

Mar 18, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Claire Messud

Accidental Friends Accidental Friends

"One does not jail Voltaire." So responded the president of France to calls that Jean-Paul Sartre be arrested for backing an independent Algeria.

Mar 18, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Russell Jacoby

Adaptation Adaptation

So Mel Gibson has been persecuted all the way to the bank.

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

I Confess (Sort of) I Confess (Sort of)

A confession is, by definition, a declaration of guilt.

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Kate Levin

Labor Pains Labor Pains

When I took childbirth classes six years ago, the word "pressure" was bandied about an awful lot: We heard about the pressure on our bladders, the pressure applied to our backs t...

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Niesslein

The Three-State Solution? The Three-State Solution?

All nations are modern inventions, but those fashioned in the Middle East show their scaffolding more than most.

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Juan Cole

The Deciding Vote The Deciding Vote

According to the Constitution, the President, with the consent of the Senate, selects the members of the Supreme Court.

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

The Protocols of Mel Gibson The Protocols of Mel Gibson

My friends had one question for me after I saw Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: Is it anti-Semitic?

Mar 11, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Katha Pollitt

What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?

In the midst of a wicked winter, I like to curl up with some sultry nature writing. My father instilled in me a fascination with the natural world.

Mar 9, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Teresa Stack

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