The Unconquered Flame: On Robert Duncan The Unconquered Flame: On Robert Duncan
A new biography shows how the poet Robert Duncan fed a line backward into the labyrinthine history of human imagination.
Sep 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
The Generalist: On Charles de Gaulle The Generalist: On Charles de Gaulle
How Charles de Gaulle’s story became a collective fairy tale that the French have agreed to believe in.
Sep 12, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney
The Antagonist: On Lillian Hellman The Antagonist: On Lillian Hellman
How did Lillian Hellman become the archetype of hypocrisy?
Aug 29, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Victor Navasky
A Charismatic Chameleon: On Luis Buñuel A Charismatic Chameleon: On Luis Buñuel
Hitchcock delighted in manipulating the audience. Early on Luis Buñuel learned to be satisfied with amusing himself.
Apr 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman
A Double Inheritance: On Margaret Fuller A Double Inheritance: On Margaret Fuller
A nineteenth-century feminist's exceptional life.
Apr 3, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick
Alice Kaplan: Angela Davis’s France Alice Kaplan: Angela Davis’s France
For a young black student, France was not the refuge it was reputed to be.
Mar 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Francis Reynolds
Dreaming in French: On Angela Davis Dreaming in French: On Angela Davis
Angela Davis’s student years in France were an alchemy of discipline and distraction.
Mar 14, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Alice Kaplan
Galileo’s Credo Galileo’s Credo
Two new biographies differ over the astronomer’s view of the relationship between science and faith.
Feb 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen
Awakenings: On Margaret Sanger Awakenings: On Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger’s legacy continues to haunt debates about abortion and family planning.
Feb 7, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Michelle Goldberg
Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’ Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’
The swirl of controversy over Jodi Kantor’s biography reflects deep cultural anxieties about the limits we place on women in power.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ilyse Hogue