Books & the Arts

Gorbachev’s Revolution Gorbachev’s Revolution

Gorbachev represented a unique change in Soviet statesmanship; two books examine him and the end of the Cold War.

Dec 13, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Walter C. Uhler

Static Electricity Static Electricity

Stuart Klwans reviews two films: In the Bedroom, by Todd Field, and The Man Who Wasn't There, by the Coen brothers.

Dec 7, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Community Values Community Values

Allison Xantha Miller reviews The Rise and Fall of Synanon: A California Utopia, by Rod Janzen, and Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center,...

Dec 7, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Allison Xantha Miller

Holocaust Imponderables Holocaust Imponderables

Paul Reitter reviews Essays on Hitler's Europe, by István Deák.

Dec 7, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Paul Reitter

Hymn to Necessity Hymn to Necessity

With a chain saw and axe, we've spent a long Morning cutting up a sycamore the storm Brought down. For all twelve years we've lived here, It has shaded over our kitchen window, Upheld the various tire swings and feeders, The candle-lit rice paper Japanese lanterns, And even, on one occasion, one corner Of a straw-hooped canopy for a wedding. So borne in mind, we've come to find that, Rinsing our dishes in the sink at lunch, The clearing it leaves over-brims itself And turns what's not there outside in, But how good the sun feels in its absence, And how like absence to surprise us this way.

Dec 7, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Sherod Santos

Witnessing Germany Witnessing Germany

Eric Weinberger reviews The Healing Wound: Experiences amd Reflections on Germany, 1938–2001, by Gitta Sereny.

Dec 7, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Eric Weinberger

That’s Vietnam, Jake That’s Vietnam, Jake

Three million American soldiers--men for the most part--participated in the US invasion of Vietnam over the decade-long duration of that war for us--roughly 1964 to 1973.

Nov 29, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Michael Uhl

American Buffaloer American Buffaloer

David Mamet's Heist is tasty, but not quite aces.

Nov 29, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Tim Appelo

Marketplace of Ideas or Tag Sale? Marketplace of Ideas or Tag Sale?

A review of Lawrence Lessig's The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in the Connected World.

Nov 29, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Steven Johnson

In Our Orbit In Our Orbit

Reviews of Grace Schulman's The Paintings of Our Lives and Stephen F. Cohen's Failed Crusade.

Nov 29, 2001 / Books & the Arts / The Editors

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