Books & the Arts

What Is Left of History?

What Is Left of History? What Is Left of History?

Joan Scott’s On the Judgment of History asks us to imagine the past without the idea of progress. But what gets left out in the process?

May 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

The Ambitious and Overstuffed World of Hanya Yanagihara

The Ambitious and Overstuffed World of Hanya Yanagihara The Ambitious and Overstuffed World of Hanya Yanagihara

To Paradise attempts to break out of the common insularity of contemporary fiction, but in doing so it often ends up focusing more on the author.

May 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Tope Folarin

Me Too and the Not Me Novel

Me Too and the Not Me Novel Me Too and the Not Me Novel

Julia May Jonas’s new novel is a study of a campus scandal and a woman caught in the middle of it.

May 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Laura Marsh

Do Revolutions Have a Secret Ingredient?

Do Revolutions Have a Secret Ingredient? Do Revolutions Have a Secret Ingredient?

A conversation with Gal Beckerman about his book, The Quiet Before, on the hushed moments and activities that precede social change

Apr 28, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Jasmine Liu

Antonio Di Benedetto and the Sound of Madness

Antonio Di Benedetto and the Sound of Madness Antonio Di Benedetto and the Sound of Madness

His bleak and surreal 1964 novel The Silentiary examines one man’s quest for quiet.

Apr 27, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Dustin Illingworth

What the Year 2000 Wrought

What the Year 2000 Wrought What the Year 2000 Wrought

A conversation with Andrew Rice about his book The Year That Broke America, the chaotic politics of the aughts, and how that decade’s eccentric characters defined American life.&nb...

Apr 26, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Alana Pockros

The Zoological Nightmares of Rafael Bernal

The Zoological Nightmares of Rafael Bernal The Zoological Nightmares of Rafael Bernal

The Mexican writer’s 1947 novel His Name Was Death dramatizes humanity’s ecological arrogance through the story of a mosquito swarm with plans of world destruction.

Apr 25, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Lucas Iberico Lozada

The New York Times Book Review at a Crossroads

The New York Times Book Review at a Crossroads The New York Times Book Review at a Crossroads

What does the future hold for one of United States’ oldest literary institutions?

Apr 21, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Kyle Paoletta

The Damning Legacy of Clintonism

The Damning Legacy of Clintonism The Damning Legacy of Clintonism

A conversation with Lily Geismer about her new book Left Behind, the misguided market guided policy of the New Democrats, and the failures of Bill Clinton. 

Apr 20, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Leifer

The Many Lives of Billy Wilder

The Many Lives of Billy Wilder The Many Lives of Billy Wilder

From Galicia to Berlin to Paris and eventually to Hollywood, the prolific director and screenwriter never let go of what proved to be his most formative experience: being in a stat...

Apr 19, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg

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