Remembering Ring Remembering Ring
The quiet grace of Ring Lardner Jr., who died the other week at 85, seemed at odds with these noisy, thumping times. I cannot imagine Ring playing Oprah or composing one of those...
Nov 16, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Roger Kahn
The Kiss The Kiss
You may find reading Akhil Sharma's debut novel akin to having your head held underwater. Attendant with feelings of a relentless, choking panic, though, will be an almost preter...
Oct 19, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Amitava Kumar
A Dream of Californication A Dream of Californication
A genre is dissolving.
Sep 7, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Melvin Jules Bukiet
George Smiley, Move Over George Smiley, Move Over
"This is a story about a spy," writes Millicent Dillon in Harry Gold: A Novel.
Jun 29, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Elsa Dixler
African Heart, No Darkness African Heart, No Darkness
A revealing question: Why has V.S. Naipaul come to be much better known in the West than the great African writer Chinua Achebe?
Jun 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / James North
The Sri Lankan Patients The Sri Lankan Patients
This time none of that lollygagging elusiveness that began The English Patient.
Jun 1, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Tom LeClair
The Troves of Academe The Troves of Academe
"A university," poet John Ciardi acidly observed, "is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students." Add this contemporary counterpunch: A college is what a...
May 25, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Carlin Romano
A Closing of the American Kind A Closing of the American Kind
You will recall that when Augie March went to Mexico, he hooked up with an eagle, which he called Caligula.
May 11, 2000 / Books & the Arts / John Leonard
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
In Moby-Dick, in the chapter "The Fossil Whale," Ishmael proclaims: "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme." The theme of Joyce Carol Oates's Blonde--well, it'...
Apr 20, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Lawrence Joseph
Passages to India Passages to India
In the early 1920s, E.M.
Apr 5, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Amitava Kumar