Conductor of the Anonymous Conductor of the Anonymous
In her oral histories, Svetlana Alexievich orchestrates the voices of Russians trying to reconcile the irreconciliable.
Nov 25, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Benech
Real, Realist, Realistic, and False Real, Realist, Realistic, and False
Linda Rosenkrantz’s 1968 quasi-novel Talk reminds us that wry self-awareness and anxious fragility are hardly millennial inventions.
Nov 25, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld
Why Does Ta-Nehisi Coates Say Less Than He Knows? Why Does Ta-Nehisi Coates Say Less Than He Knows?
The journalist’s best-selling memoir offers eloquent testimony to the vulnerability of black life, but it surrenders too much to despair.
Nov 15, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Jesse McCarthy
Politics, Principle, and Risk Politics, Principle, and Risk
For political theorist Philip Green, taking sides has always meant taking action.
Nov 5, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Sara Rathod
LIVE: Between the Lines With Ta-Nehisi Coates LIVE: Between the Lines With Ta-Nehisi Coates
An intimate public conversation with the author of Between the World and Me, streaming today at 6:30 pm, est.
Oct 22, 2015 / The Nation
10 Questions for Margo Jefferson 10 Questions for Margo Jefferson
The author of Negroland explains her long journey from cheerleader to literary critic.
Oct 22, 2015 / Jon Wiener
How Patti Smith, Punk Chanteuse, Became the Irresistible Siren of Middle Age How Patti Smith, Punk Chanteuse, Became the Irresistible Siren of Middle Age
Her latest memoir, M Train, feels guided simultaneously by determination and serendipity.
Oct 8, 2015 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
Kevin Powell’s Memoir Will Crush You Kevin Powell’s Memoir Will Crush You
An autobiography that’s really a first-hand account about surviving racism and poverty only mostly intact, The Education of Kevin Powell is revelatory.
Sep 30, 2015 / Dave Zirin
A Retelling: The Clubwomen A Retelling: The Clubwomen
A writer reflects on her grandmothers’ struggles with progress and peril in a changing America.
Sep 2, 2015 / Margo Jefferson
Ferlinghetti in June Ferlinghetti in June
Writing Across the Landscape collects the poet’s travel diaries—which, he says, “may pass as news stories filed by a reporter from Outer Space.”
Jul 30, 2015 / Feature / Lawrence Ferlinghetti