Books and Ideas

Cadets at a city festival in Guatemala City

Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Struggle Between Good and Evil Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Struggle Between Good and Evil

His novel Mr. President is a masterwork of political fiction and a prime example of linguistic beauty in the Latin American tradition. 

Jul 5, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Mario Vargas Llosa

The Tricky Politics of Ecological Restoration

The Tricky Politics of Ecological Restoration The Tricky Politics of Ecological Restoration

A conversation with Laura J. Martin about the Cold War origins of environmental management and her book Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration. 

Jul 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Naomi Elias

Elif Batuman Answers Our Burning Questions About the State of the Novel

Elif Batuman Answers Our Burning Questions About the State of the Novel Elif Batuman Answers Our Burning Questions About the State of the Novel

A conversation about her new book Either/Or, the limits of aesthetic life, and much more. 

Jul 1, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Najwa Jamal

Toe to Toe With “Moby-Dick”

Toe to Toe With “Moby-Dick” Toe to Toe With “Moby-Dick”

Pierre Senges’s avant-garde retelling of Melville's great work asks us what the limits of the novel are. 

Jun 29, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ryan Ruby

Election Night at the Trump White House

Election Night at the Trump White House Election Night at the Trump White House

’Twas said that finding wise advice Was something Donald Trump had mastered. So who’d he listen to that night? Just Rudy Giuliani, plastered.

Jun 28, 2022 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Fernanda Melchor’s Dark Morality Plays

Fernanda Melchor’s Dark Morality Plays Fernanda Melchor’s Dark Morality Plays

In her third novel, Melchor turns her allegorical powers in an even more explicitly political direction.

Jun 27, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Nicolás Medina Mora

How Gayness Changed During My Lifetime

How Gayness Changed During My Lifetime How Gayness Changed During My Lifetime

When I came out, I steeled myself to join a minority—only to find that my identity had become a marketing niche.

Jun 27, 2022 / Feature / Benjamin Moser

A Staggering Story of Palestinian Exile

A Staggering Story of Palestinian Exile A Staggering Story of Palestinian Exile

Mona Mansour’s The Vagrant Trilogy is the Public Theater’s first full-length, main-stage production to address the aftermath of the Nakba.

Jun 23, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon

What Do We Do About the Davos Class?

What Do We Do About the Davos Class? What Do We Do About the Davos Class?

Peter S. Goodman dissects the morally bankrupt philosophy of the global financial elite in Davos Man, offering a damning picture of the wealthy's influence on world politics.

Jun 22, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Nick Serpe

Girls dance outside the Brooklyn Library.

Keeping Juneteenth Radical Keeping Juneteenth Radical

Crass commercialization of a holiday is as American as a Labor Day sale, and so it is up to us to keep the true spirit of Juneteenth alive.

Jun 20, 2022 / Robert Greene II

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