A Lion in Winter A Lion in Winter
Jürgen Habermas remains an indispensable guide to the unfinished project of democratic consciousness and enlightenment.
Sep 14, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Peter E. Gordon
Several Types of William Empson Several Types of William Empson
A lost study of Buddhist art reveals a hidden side of a great literary critic.
Sep 6, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Chenxin Jiang
Notes From Many Years Notes From Many Years
Helen Gurley Brown’s ideas about women were often as retrograde as the ones she claimed to fight. Why is she still appealing?
Sep 1, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Madeleine Schwartz
What Breeds in ‘Standing Water’ What Breeds in ‘Standing Water’
Eleanor Chai’s poems require delving below the surface of each compact, enjambment-packed stanza, forcing the reader through a process of discovery not unlike Chai’s own origin sto...
Jul 29, 2016 / Larissa Pham
Across the Border Across the Border
A new biography of William Henry Ellis reminds us how much we still don’t know about the elusive history of racial subterfuge in America.
Jul 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Michael A. Elliott
Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices
At a time when populism is in vogue, the Nobel Laureate has gone in the opposite direction. We need to read her and listen to the people she hears.
Jul 6, 2016 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
Hume’s Call to Action Hume’s Call to Action
For philosophy to be effective, it has to understand the world in which it operates. David Hume brought history and politics to the realm of ideas.
Apr 20, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Richard Bourke
Joseph Brodsky, Darker and Brighter Joseph Brodsky, Darker and Brighter
A spellbinding new biography rescues the poet from sentimentality and kitsch.
Mar 24, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Cynthia Haven
Margaret Thatcher’s Fogeyism Margaret Thatcher’s Fogeyism
Charles Moore, the prime minister’s authorized biographer, believes the successes of Thatcherism to be self-evident, and he frequently lets his biases show.
Mar 10, 2016 / Books & the Arts / K. Biswas
Ms. Grief Ms. Grief
Out of two new books, Constance Fenimore Woolson emerges as a figure of some dimension in her own right.
Mar 3, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick