Zadie Smith’s Indecision Zadie Smith’s Indecision
It can't be easy to rein in a writer as successful as Zadie Smith. Her new novel, On Beauty, proves it's almost impossible.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Levee Town Levee Town
There are decades of memos from engineers and contractors setting forth budgets to build up the Gulf Coast's levees, but Bush wouldn't let them be.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn
Bread, Roses and the Flood Bread, Roses and the Flood
The only bright spot in this man-made disaster has been the wave of public outrage at the Administration's failure to provide aid to the most vulnerable.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner
America’s Imaginary Frontier America’s Imaginary Frontier
America's narcissism and willful blindness to its own moral failings have been placed in sharp relief as the nation fitfully responds to the needs of storm victims.
Sep 13, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Norman Birnbaum
Love and Betrayal in Colonial Africa Love and Betrayal in Colonial Africa
Abdulrazak Gurnah's seventh book, Desertion, revisits the theme of exile and expands it to relationships---between lovers, between families, between countries.
Sep 8, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami
Robert Kaplan: Empire Without Apologies Robert Kaplan: Empire Without Apologies
In his new book, Robert Kaplan proposes that the antidote to anarchy is empire, policed by soldiers holding an assault rifle in one hand and candy bars in the other.
Sep 8, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Andrew J. Bacevich
Desert Storm Desert Storm
This might be a good time for the Bush Administration to step up its reading on Saudi Arabia, starting with these three books.
Sep 8, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Milton Viorst
The Power of Outrage The Power of Outrage
A nation's conscience is stirred by the abandonment of the poor and the frail: This may be the one bright spot of the man-made disaster on the Gulf Coast. Eric Foner gives a histor...
Sep 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner
To Return and Rise Again To Return and Rise Again
Louisiana's poet laureate writes of the resolve of New Orleans's displaced citizens to rebuild their shattered city.
Sep 4, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Brenda Marie Osbey
Good Vibrations Good Vibrations
Orgasms used to be a secret, then they became a right. Now they're a duty. It's time to explode the myths.
Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Cristina Nehring