Books and Ideas

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s Art of Disobedience Oscar Wilde’s Art of Disobedience

Revisiting his critical writing, we learn a valuable lesson about the critic’s role in refusing bad taste and bad politics.

Oct 9, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Vorona Cote

Harry G. Barnes meeting with Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The American Ambassador Who Helped Stop a Coup in Chile The American Ambassador Who Helped Stop a Coup in Chile

Everyone knows how Nixon and Kissinger paved Pinochet’s path to power. The story of Harry Barnes, who played a crucial role in the Chilean dictator’s exit, is much less well known...

Oct 5, 2023 / Peter Kornbluh

Iman Mersal’s Lost Cairo

Iman Mersal’s Lost Cairo Iman Mersal’s Lost Cairo

In Threshold, the poet revisits a city that transformed her and a generation of radical artists and intellectuals. 

Oct 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Amir-Hussein Radjy

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman celebrates his victory

Schumer Drops Senatorial Dress Code Schumer Drops Senatorial Dress Code

Oct 3, 2023 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore

The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore

An enigmatic new novel retells a disorienting story about death, love, the Civil War, and everything in-between. 

Oct 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Erin Somers

What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism?

What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism? What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism?

Books & the Arts / October 3, 2023 The Good Life What can we learn from the history of utopianism? What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism? In Everyday Utopias, Kr…

Oct 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emily Raboteau

The 9/11 Museum Is an Atrocity Exhibition

The 9/11 Museum Is an Atrocity Exhibition The 9/11 Museum Is an Atrocity Exhibition

These New Yorkers want to transform the September 11 museum, but can it be anything other than a purveyor of War on Terror propaganda?

Oct 3, 2023 / Column / Spencer Ackerman

Teju Cole and the Forking Paths of Autofiction

Teju Cole and the Forking Paths of Autofiction Teju Cole and the Forking Paths of Autofiction

Books & the Arts / October 2, 2023 A Multitude of Selves Teju Cole and the forking paths of autofiction. Teju Cole and the Forking Paths of Autofiction In Tremor, the novel…

Oct 2, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Tope Folarin

Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double

Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double

In her new book, a case of mistaken identity reveals how life online and off has become more and more polarized. 

Oct 2, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Laura Kipnis

Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New

Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New

Tolerance, rigor, open-mindedness, and a willingness to countenance doubt and contradiction apparently are all values the magazine champions in theory but tends to ignore in pract...

Oct 2, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Klion

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