![The](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/dark-theater-getty-img.jpg)
The Coronavirus Means Curtains for Artists The Coronavirus Means Curtains for Artists
The loss of revenue from live events is only the start of this particular disaster.
May 7, 2020 / no-paywall / William Deresiewicz
![Naples, Italy.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/deresiewicz_Magnum_otu_img.jpg)
Conditions of Emergence: On Elena Ferrante Conditions of Emergence: On Elena Ferrante
In the pseudonymous author’s Neapolitan Novels, the price of leaving Naples is that you can never be at home again.
Sep 24, 2015 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![UCLA](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/UCLA_rtr_img.jpg)
Why Philanthropy Won’t Solve the Higher-Ed Crisis Why Philanthropy Won’t Solve the Higher-Ed Crisis
Relying on the rich to make college affordable for poor students reinforces the system that created those inequalities in the first place.
Jul 2, 2015 / Feature / William Deresiewicz
![Diminishing Returns](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/deresiewicz_diminishingreturns_ba_img.jpg)
Diminishing Returns Diminishing Returns
The writings of Tom McCarthy are a case study in the application of theory to fiction.
May 12, 2015 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece?](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/deresiewicz_pre-gossiped_ba_img1.jpg)
Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece? Why Has ‘My Struggle’ Been Anointed a Literary Masterpiece?
With its lack of art and absence of thought, the blockbuster Norwegian novel disappoints.
May 13, 2014 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![Dread and Wonder](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/deresiewicz_dreadandwonder_ba_img_0.jpg)
Dread and Wonder Dread and Wonder
The unflinching fiction of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.
Mar 5, 2014 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Passing the Signal Along Passing the Signal Along
The task of a critic has to do with the nature of the knowledge we call art.
Feb 28, 2013 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![‘I Was There’: On Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Kurt_Vonnegut_hp.jpg)
‘I Was There’: On Kurt Vonnegut ‘I Was There’: On Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut sought to fool us with his eyes wide open.
May 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![Beattitudes: On Ann Beattie](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ann_Beattie_Illustration_hp.jpg)
Beattitudes: On Ann Beattie Beattitudes: On Ann Beattie
Ann Beattie is an artist of the things we don’t say, or can’t, and that find expression anyway.
Nov 22, 2011 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
![The Children’s Hospital: On David Foster Wallace](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DavidFosterWallace_hp_0.jpg)
The Children’s Hospital: On David Foster Wallace The Children’s Hospital: On David Foster Wallace
Vulnerability was what made David Foster Wallace so beloved, but it often led him to surrender too much in his fiction.
Jun 15, 2011 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz