The Idler: On Geoff Dyer The Idler: On Geoff Dyer
Freedom to do just what he pleases defines the life and writing of Geoff Dyer.
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman
Confession Confession
I read the chemistry so I think of my windows as thick syrup and I do see a whole world stuck to them so I believe it Somehow twenty pelicans just now escaped with their shadows but the oaks and palmettos are struggling wildly to get loose If they can’t do it with a thousand hands how could we with two Our predicament had been holding two things true at the same time It was worse actually We knew truth between them and did nothing
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Allan Peterson
Shostakovich’s Ambivalence Shostakovich’s Ambivalence
The musical and political strands of Dmitri Shostakovich's life were intertwined like the braids of a noose.
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell
A Bare-Bones Analysis of Tim Pawlenty’s Candidacy A Bare-Bones Analysis of Tim Pawlenty’s Candidacy
The news from Minnesota‘s Tim Pawlenty Is Tim Pawlenty‘s in New Hampshire plenty. He hopes to win in ’12, ’16 or ’20. But that’s not likely, say the cognoscenti.
Apr 17, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Tangled Up in Unbelievable Foolishness Tangled Up in Unbelievable Foolishness
Eric Alterman reviews jazz, including Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton, the Jazz Foundation benefit, and Reed Richardson discusses the ethics of Obama's budget speech.
Apr 15, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
Yet Another Chapter in Trickle-Down Economics Yet Another Chapter in Trickle-Down Economics
“C.E.O.’s in finance, technology, energy and beyond are pulling down multimillion-dollar paychecks. What many of these executives aren’t doing, however, is hiring.” —the New York Times If you await a downward trickle, You’ve just received a wooden nickel.
Apr 14, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
How Socialists Built America How Socialists Built America
The history of our nation has many rich and vibrant hues—some of them red.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
Watered Whiskey: James Baldwin’s Uncollected Writings Watered Whiskey: James Baldwin’s Uncollected Writings
The Cross of Redemption tells the story of James Baldwin as a working writer: casual, lax and preachy, but also honest, angry and brilliant.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Elias Altman
History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg wanted it all: books and music, sex and art, evening walks and the revolution. Her lover, Leo Jogiches, told her this was nonsense.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick
Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age
Ann Blair’s Too Much to Know explains how across the centuries the profusion of information has always inspired readers to invent shortcuts to knowledge.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen