You Can’t Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King You Can’t Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King
In 11/22/63, Stephen King conveys the horrors of American exceptionalism.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Charles Taylor
L’Élan Vital L’Élan Vital
It happened when a doctorate honoris causa was awarded to a certain Lamerdière of Freiburg— Switzerland or Breisgau, who cares? Garbed in rainbow gown, he mounted the dais and barfed his Objurgation. I revile the larva, he said, the grub from which, in due course, issues the angelic butterfly only to die in the flaring of a match. I despise the silent, the tenuous, the fading. The only god is Rhombus, not the mullet, but the everlasting anti- teleological, universal thunderclap. Not that susurrus which sophists call l’élan vital. If god is word, and word is sound, this almighty bombination, for which no beginning is, no end will ever be, is unique in being both itself and everything else. Jove dies, your Excellencies, the poet’s hymn does NOT last. At this point a Jumbo jet blasted my ears and I woke. Reprinted from The Collected Poems of Eugenio Montale, 1925–1977, translated by William Arrowsmith and edited by Rosanna Warren. Copyright © 2012 by Beth Arrowsmith, Nancy Arrowsmith and Rosanna Warren.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eugenio Montale
Rick Perry Compares Himself to Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow Rick Perry Compares Himself to Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow
So Perry is fond of debates now, He’s calling himself in these rumbles An Iowa caucuses Tebow— Except for how often he fumbles.
Dec 21, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Five Worst Political Books of 2011 Five Worst Political Books of 2011
Bill Clinton on jobs, Chris Matthews on JFK and Dick Cheney on himself.
Dec 21, 2011 / Jon Wiener
Regarding Christopher Regarding Christopher
Hitchens could be a moral bully and a black-and-white thinker, but as a vivid presence he will long be remembered.
Dec 19, 2011 / Katha Pollitt
The Perils of the Front-Runner in a Horse Race The Perils of the Front-Runner in a Horse Race
Though Romney was leading right out of the gate, He’s also a guy some conservatives hate. But all other entries they managed to find Were scratched from the start or have fallen behind. So now they’ve decided that Newt is a whiz— The horse that they’re backing, corrupt as he is. Thus Gingrich, now galloping (though he’s quite husky), May make Romney look like the late Edmund Muskie.
Dec 14, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
An Opening in Burma? On Thant Myint-U An Opening in Burma? On Thant Myint-U
Hopes for reform in Burma are starting to be fulfilled, but skepticism of its rulers is still warranted.
Dec 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Kurlantzick
Their Power Their Power
An Epigram [1851] Immense armies, generals bold, Police—covert, overt, of both sexes— ‘gainst whom are these aggressors?— A few ideas… that aren’t new but old…! (Translated from the Polish by Danuta Borchardt)
Dec 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Cyprian Norwid
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Anne Rophie’s Art and Madness, Millicent Monk’s Songs of Three Islands, Maisie Houghton’s Pitch Uncertain.
Dec 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Elias Altman
Signs of Protest: Occupy’s Guerilla Semiotics Signs of Protest: Occupy’s Guerilla Semiotics
Does the content of a demonstration always exceed and fall short of its ostensible message?
Dec 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky