Books and Ideas

a pensive Joe Manchin

Manchin Is Leaving the Senate Manchin Is Leaving the Senate

Jul 30, 2024 / Column / Calvin Trillin

US Vice President Kamala Harris

How Harris Can Make America Democratic Again How Harris Can Make America Democratic Again

Biden wisely passed the torch to someone who can counter the MAGA call.

Jul 30, 2024 / D.D. Guttenplan

Nation Poetry

Of Historical Significance Of Historical Significance

Jul 30, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Michael Wasson

Ross Perot prior to an address to the Economic Club of Detroit.

Did the Early 1990s Break American Politics? Did the Early 1990s Break American Politics?

In When The Clock Broke, John Ganz offers a whirlwind tour of the cranks, conservatives, and con artists who helped remake the American right at the turn of the 21st century.

Jul 29, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David Klion

Who let the cats out? Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance.

J.D. Vance’s Hatred of Cat Ladies Is Weirder and More Dangerous Than You Think J.D. Vance’s Hatred of Cat Ladies Is Weirder and More Dangerous Than You Think

Patriarchy, plutocracy, and ethnonationalism fuel the vice-presidential candidate’s bizarre slur.

Jul 26, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief

Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief Venita Blackburn’s Stages of Grief

In Dead in Long Beach, California, the novelist looks at how integral lying is to any story we tell about death.

Jul 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Soto

Statue of Clarice Lispector at Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro, 2016.

Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology

To understand the philosophical dimensions of her fiction you must read her 1961 novel The Apple in the Dark.

Jul 24, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Shaj Mathew

Guests walk along the beach near the Botel pool on Fire Island in Long Island, New York, 1976.

The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires

His 1992 novel Love Junkie might be one of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era.

Jul 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wolf

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