Books & the Arts

Visions of the Sublime Visions of the Sublime

One of the great benefits conferred by Modernism on our appreciation of traditional painting is that there is little inclination any longer to ascribe optical abnormalities to ...

Nov 13, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto

New York State of Mind New York State of Mind

After two elegantly written, consistently engaging, critically praised, ambitious if not entirely satisfying novels, the prodigiously gifted Colson Whitehead has given the read...

Nov 13, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Phillip Lopate

A Documentary Coup A Documentary Coup

The lights go down in the courtroom, a 16-millimeter projector shoots out its beam, and into the trial blazes evidence of an unprecedented nature: not a report of criminal even...

Nov 6, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Diaghilev in Perm Diaghilev in Perm

Few Westerners have ever heard of Perm. A former czarist administrative center, rustbelt Soviet city and gateway to the gulag, Perm was long off-limits to foreigners.

Nov 6, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Lynn Garafola

Lost Causes Lost Causes

Nations, like individuals, sustain trauma, mourn and recover. And like individuals they survive by making sense of what has befallen them, by constructing a narrative of loss a...

Nov 6, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Laqueur

A Configuration of Themes A Configuration of Themes

This essay--Edward W. Said's first piece for The Nation from the magazine's May 30, 1966, issue--is a special selection from The Nation Digital Archive. If you want to read everyth...

Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Edward W. Said

Oy Gay! Oy Gay!

Without baring flesh, exchanging fluids or even shedding blood, Will & Grace has become the craftiest, if not the most radical, show in the history of network television--t...

Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Kera Bolonik

Willie Nelson at 70 Willie Nelson at 70

On April 30, Willie Nelson turned 70, celebrating with the release of his latest greatest-hits collection.

Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro

About Begley About Begley

Louis Begley is perhaps currently best known as the author of About Schmidt, the novel from which the recent acclaimed film starring Jack Nicholson was adapted.

Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Claire Messud

The Curse of the Caucasus The Curse of the Caucasus

When George Kennan set out for the Caucasus in 1870, few if any Americans had explored the highlands of Dagestan, Chechnya and the wild frontiers of imperial Russia. And with good ...

Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Raffi Khatchadourian

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