Beattitudes: On Ann Beattie Beattitudes: On Ann Beattie
Ann Beattie is an artist of the things we don’t say, or can’t, and that find expression anyway.
Nov 22, 2011 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
This Is Just to Say: On William Carlos Williams This Is Just to Say: On William Carlos Williams
A new biography shortchanges the poetic achievement of William Carlos Williams.
Oct 26, 2011 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
Gandhi and South Africa Gandhi and South Africa
Why was Joseph Lelyveld’s history of Gandhi’s years in South Africa attacked by India’s Hindu right?
Oct 12, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Martha C. Nussbaum
The World House: On Malcolm X The World House: On Malcolm X
A biographer's flawed attempt to rediscover the politics in the decidedly political life of Malcolm X.
Sep 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Aziz Rana
Gratitude and Forbearance: On Christopher Lasch Gratitude and Forbearance: On Christopher Lasch
Christopher Lasch and his quest for the moral resources of the next New Deal.
Sep 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Norman Birnbaum
Shelf Life: On Socrates Shelf Life: On Socrates
Bettany Hughes's biography of Socrates is a book that Socrates himself, on a mean day, would have torn to shreds.
Sep 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Emily Wilson
This Is a Recording: On Alan Lomax This Is a Recording: On Alan Lomax
How Alan Lomax became the most significant Baedeker of America’s folkways.
Aug 24, 2011 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe
Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon was a model citizen of the republic of letters—a community more durable than any church and broader than academia.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Sam Stark
Shostakovich’s Ambivalence Shostakovich’s Ambivalence
The musical and political strands of Dmitri Shostakovich's life were intertwined like the braids of a noose.
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell
History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg wanted it all: books and music, sex and art, evening walks and the revolution. Her lover, Leo Jogiches, told her this was nonsense.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick