The Marvel of the Obvious The Marvel of the Obvious
"There are things/We live among 'and to see them/Is to know ourselves.'" These three lines are among the most stirring written by George Oppen, a poet whose modesty and honesty p...
Mar 7, 2002 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
The Still Bad New Old Nixon The Still Bad New Old Nixon
It's been three decades since President Richard M.
Mar 5, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Robert Scheer
Messenger Messenger
The birds stopped coming after the annuals died. I didn't realize how much I missed them until the bluebird Returned, lured by the burgundy haze of the fall pansies Pour...
Feb 28, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Franklin
‘Monsoon’ Season ‘Monsoon’ Season
Why, asked my friends and my baffled wife. Why, piped my son. Even the movie critics sitting next to me wanted to know: What perversity drove me to see Hart's War and Rollerball?...
Feb 28, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
H. Rap Brown/Jamil Al-Amin: A Profoundly American Story H. Rap Brown/Jamil Al-Amin: A Profoundly American Story
Die Nigger Die!, the autobiographical political memoir by H. Rap Brown, is a vital American historical document--historical almost in the sense of a message found in a time capsu...
Feb 28, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Ekwueme Michael Thelwell
Artists Strike a Chord Artists Strike a Chord
Johnny Temple plays bass guitar in the rock bands Girls Against Boys and New Wet Kojak and is the publisher of Akashic Books (www.akashicbooks.com).
Feb 27, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Johnny Temple
A Prayer for America A Prayer for America
I offer these brief remarks today as a prayer for our country, with love of democracy, as a celebration of our country. With love for our country. With hope for our country.
Feb 26, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Dennis Kucinich
Not Betsy Rosses Not Betsy Rosses
For a while I thought about designing a flag. Something bigger, blurrier than "nation." I imagined a hovering planet on a field of blue, and "United We Stand" could be written un...
Feb 21, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Eileen Myles
Denmark Vesey: A New Verdict Denmark Vesey: A New Verdict
A historian questions whether he led a slave revolt, but his heroism still stands.
Feb 21, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener
In Cold Type In Cold Type
Some magazines have an identity problem, and some don't. The New York Review of Books doesn't, as you may have noticed. It's relentlessly highbrow, which is how we like it. For t...
Feb 21, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Amy Wilentz