Tulum Tulum
in ceasing to exist gods create in air an emptiness where the light comes to settle all their monuments gather around the edge the earth underneath congeals its ancient waves see the god descending from a pediment he was supposed to induce the rain’s downfall it’s the sky today that drops into the rock to very gingerly liberate our heart and elongate the view toward the end of time same at its core to the Caribbean Sea its green water took the divine in its folds all then ends up in rumbling and murmuring all began in an identical manner (translated from the French by Eléna Rivera)
Sep 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Bernard Nöel
Michele: A Reprise Michele: A Reprise
(With yet another apology to the Beatles) Michele, our belle, Things of late have truly failed to gel For Michele. Michele, our belle, They’re no longer buying what you sell. Poor Michele. Your numbers have gone in the toilet. They say you peaked too soon. And talking like a loon Could not have helped a lot, although Rick Perry does, too. Michele, our belle, Pundits now are bidding you farewell— “Bye, Michele.”
Sep 15, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Gratitude and Forbearance: On Christopher Lasch Gratitude and Forbearance: On Christopher Lasch
Christopher Lasch and his quest for the moral resources of the next New Deal.
Sep 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Norman Birnbaum
Treatment Treatment
The relationship between a handsome young broker and a lovely young curator is in trouble. Before they can marry, he must come to tolerate, then feel guarded affection for a good natured buffoon who populates dioramas with stuffed mouse couples in period dress, then for an assortment of others, some less likeable, who also take passionate interest in an activity that generates no profit
Sep 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Rae Armantrout
Agents of Destruction Agents of Destruction
Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, Göran Hugo Olsson’s Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975, Tate Taylor’s The Help
Sep 14, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Visions and Revisions: On T.S. Eliot Visions and Revisions: On T.S. Eliot
Two volumes of T.S. Eliot's letters elucidate how the momentous achievements of his art were determined by moments of awful daring.
Sep 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
Uncertainty and Anxiety: On Khrushchev’s Thaw Uncertainty and Anxiety: On Khrushchev’s Thaw
Why did different segments of the Soviet population experience Khrushchev’s reforms in radically different ways?
Sep 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Nathans
Shelf Life: On Socrates Shelf Life: On Socrates
Bettany Hughes's biography of Socrates is a book that Socrates himself, on a mean day, would have torn to shreds.
Sep 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Emily Wilson
Break Their Hearts: On Chris Bachelder Break Their Hearts: On Chris Bachelder
In his novel Abbott Awaits, Chris Bachelder employs his comic wackiness to great effect.
Sep 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier
So What’s With the Cowboy Boots, Rick? So What’s With the Cowboy Boots, Rick?
You say you’re the real thing from Texas— An Aggie, not someone from Yale. While claiming to be a straight shooter, You plant a boot high on a bale. ’Twas cotton that grew on your farm, Rick. You didn’t grow up on the range. No horses are used to plant cotton, So cowboy boots seem mighty strange. No phony? Then alter your costume. Although they lack cowboy boots’ zing, If you have a sod-buster background, Bib overalls might be the thing.
Aug 31, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin