Books and Ideas

Boxed In Boxed In

Electoral reform in the United States will require federal intervention to empower voters and overcome the challenges posed by state and local autonomy.

May 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Peter C. Baker

Competitive Sliming Competitive Sliming

At least McCain's being creative.

May 14, 2008 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Age of the Wooden Spoon The Age of the Wooden Spoon

The radical subjectivity and reckless politics of Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun find new expression in recent English translations and editions.

May 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Lytal

The Counter-Family The Counter-Family

British author Jonathan Coe departs from grand social transformations and turns to the domestic sphere in The Rain Before It Falls.

May 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Chris Lehmann

Sweet Martin’s Badass Song Sweet Martin’s Badass Song

Several new books on Martin Luther King takes a closer look at the rhetoric and economic politics of the civil rights icon.

May 1, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Scott Saul

A Deeper Black A Deeper Black

Shelby Steele's book on Barack Obama, an outdated critique of identity politics, misses the candidate's essential power.

May 1, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Ta-Nehisi Coates

John McCain, Demonstrating His Intention to Make Inroads Among African-American Voters… John McCain, Demonstrating His Intention to Make Inroads Among African-American Voters…

But guess who showed up instead?

Apr 30, 2008 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Lost Causes Not Yet Found Lost Causes Not Yet Found

In Defying Dixie, Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore seeks to reclaim the radical origins of the modern civil rights struggle.

Apr 24, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Kevin M. Kruse

Hearts and Minds Hearts and Minds

Is there more to racism in America than intolerance and immorality? Four books shed light.

Apr 24, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Thomas J. Sugrue

Dreaming Obama in North Carolina Dreaming Obama in North Carolina

Conversations with historian John Hope Franklin and civil rights heroes about race, memory and the possibility of change.

Apr 23, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Tom Hayden

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