Books & the Arts

The Unanswered Questions of “True Detective” The Unanswered Questions of “True Detective”

Like a Raymond Chandler detective story, Night Country ultimately wants to turn its audience’s attention away from the mysteries of the dead toward those of the living.

Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte

What Happened to the Democratic Majority? What Happened to the Democratic Majority?

Today the march of class dealignment feels like an inexorable fact of American political life. But is it?

Books & the Arts / Matthew Karp

The Genius of Nuri Bilge Ceylan The Genius of Nuri Bilge Ceylan

About Dry Grasses is long, dense, elliptical—and brilliant.

Books & the Arts / A. S. Hamrah

From the Magazine

Niels Vodder display wtih furniture designed by Finn Juhl, Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition, 1949.

How Did Americans Come to Love “Mid-Century Modern”? How Did Americans Come to Love “Mid-Century Modern”?

Solving the riddle of America’s obsession with postwar design and furniture.

Books & the Arts / Marianela D’Aprile

Isabella Hammad’s Novel of Art and Exile in Palestine

Isabella Hammad’s Novel of Art and Exile in Palestine Isabella Hammad’s Novel of Art and Exile in Palestine

Enter the Ghost looks at a group of Palestinians who try to put on a production of Hamlet in the occupied West Bank. 

Books & the Arts / Raja Shehadeh

Nuremberg, 1923.

The First Time the Nazis Tried to Take Power The First Time the Nazis Tried to Take Power

The year that broke Germany.

Books & the Arts / Richard J. Evans

Literary Criticism

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

His 1980s novels take the story of America’s postwar years, usually seen as a triumphal rise to perpetual dominance, and converts it into one about a long and chaotic decline.

Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb

Illustration by Lily Qian.

The Enigmatic Science Fiction of Djuna The Enigmatic Science Fiction of Djuna

The radical visions of South Korea’s mononymous, pseudonymous, and officially anonymous sci-fi novelist and film critic.

Books & the Arts / E. Tammy Kim

The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular

The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular

A new biography of Edith Hamilton tells the story of how and why ancient literature became widely read in the United States.

Books & the Arts / Emily Wilson

History & Politics

Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New

Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New Liberties: A Magazine in Revolt Against the New

Tolerance, rigor, open-mindedness, and a willingness to countenance doubt and contradiction apparently are all values the magazine champions in theory but tends to ignore in pract…

Books & the Arts / David Klion

Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double

Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double Naomi Klein’s Quest to Understand Her Double

In her new book, a case of mistaken identity reveals how life online and off has become more and more polarized. 

Books & the Arts / Laura Kipnis

How Did Marxism Become Marxism?

How Did Marxism Become Marxism? How Did Marxism Become Marxism?

A new book examines a set of thinkers and activists who helped transform a set of radical ideas into a political tradition.

Books & the Arts / Peter E. Gordon

Art & Architecture

Raymond Jonson, Casein Tempera No. 1, 1939.

The Curious Case of the Transcendental Painting Group The Curious Case of the Transcendental Painting Group

A touring exhibition of 20th-century painting from the American Southwest is poised to be the next big art world hit. Yet the show forces us to ask: What is fueling the revival?

Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

A draughtsman, circa 1940.

What’s the Matter With Contemporary Architecture? What’s the Matter With Contemporary Architecture?

In his new book, Reinier de Graaf attempts to work out why his profession appears to be at an impasse.

Books & the Arts / Marianela D’Aprile

Frank Bowling, 1962.

“The Subject of Painting Is Paint”: On Frank Bowling “The Subject of Painting Is Paint”: On Frank Bowling

The British artist’s work challenges all notions you might have about the relationship between politics and aesthetics.

Books & the Arts / John-Baptiste Oduor

Film & Television

Steve McQueen and Jonathan Glazer Confront the Holocaust 

Steve McQueen and Jonathan Glazer Confront the Holocaust  Steve McQueen and Jonathan Glazer Confront the Holocaust 

In Zones of Interest and Occupied City, the two filmmakers attempt to depict the ordinary fascism and everyday violence of World War II.

Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

Joaquin Phoenix in “Napoleon.”

History According to Ridley Scott History According to Ridley Scott

Ultimately what we learn in Napoleon says far more about the director than it does about Napoleon.

Books & the Arts / Mike Duncan

Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry and Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yoo in “May December.”

The Uncanny Façades of “May December” The Uncanny Façades of “May December”

Todd Haynes’s discomfiting and hypnotic suburban melodrama examines topics the director knows well: sex, taboo, and control.

Books & the Arts / Beatrice Loayza

Latest in Books & the Arts

A man fights a losing battle with insomnia by counting sheep, 1940.

A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless” A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless”

A French writer’s memoir of her insomnia tries to understand how central sleep is to cultural and intellectual history.

Mar 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alyse Burnside

Fables of the Lone Star Liberal

Fables of the Lone Star Liberal Fables of the Lone Star Liberal

A HBO documentary series helmed by Lawrence Wright unknowingly paints a picture of a state incapable of understanding how radically it has changed since its hard-right turn.

Mar 27, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sam Russek

The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls”

The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls” The Odd Couples of “Drive-Away Dolls”

Ethan Coen’s horny homage to American film history’s many strains of queer comedy highlights the collaborative aspect inherent in his project as a director.

Mar 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

A scene from “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World.”

Radu Jude’s Wild and Caustic Films Radu Jude’s Wild and Caustic Films

His latest, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, is a a digressive and transgressive movie of ideas about the social-media age.

Mar 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

“The Ricotta Eaters,” Vincenzo Campi (c.1585). Found in the Collection of Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon.

At Mathias Énard’s Table At Mathias Énard’s Table

Set between the 16th and 22nd centuries, The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild is a work of political comedy, fixated on class, climate, food, wine, and the afterlife.

Mar 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Dustin Illingworth

The Visions of Alice Coltrane

The Visions of Alice Coltrane The Visions of Alice Coltrane

In the years after her husband John’s death, the harpist discovered a sound all her own, a jazz rooted in acts of spirit and will.

Mar 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore

x