Books & the Arts

Caroline Blackwood, 1953.

Caroline Blackwood’s Graceful Nightmares Caroline Blackwood’s Graceful Nightmares

The writer and socialite's gothic fictions were also cutting works of social comedy.

Jan 23, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Isabella Trimboli

David Lynch, 2002.

David Lynch’s Guts David Lynch’s Guts

His visceral films, which reflect the best and worst of American life, affected viewers in realms both conscious and unconscious.

Jan 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

The Haunting of Delmore Schwartz

The Haunting of Delmore Schwartz The Haunting of Delmore Schwartz

In his Collected Poems, his verse becomes an index for a life lived between ambition, pain, and disappointment.

Jan 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe

Andrei and Gyuzel Almarik upon arriving in the Netherlands in 1976.

The Often Misunderstood History of the Soviet Dissidents The Often Misunderstood History of the Soviet Dissidents

In To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause, historian Benjamin Nathans sheds light on how the protest movement reinvented itself at key junctures and eventually to great effect.

Jan 21, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Michael David-Fox

David Lynch at the filming of “Wild at Heart.”

The Unsettling Genius of David Lynch The Unsettling Genius of David Lynch

In his films, his TV shows, and his paintings, Lynch reminded us that all art gestures toward a world beyond the familiar and comforting.

Jan 17, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Erik Baker

Jamie XX performing in London in 2024.

The Introspective Club Hits of Jamie xx The Introspective Club Hits of Jamie xx

With In Waves, Jamie xx—whose real name is James Smith—has perfected what he explored in In Colour: an album full of searching tunes that can double as dance songs.

Jan 16, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Bijan Stephen

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in “Babygirl.”

Can “Babygirl” Breathe New Life Into a Retrograde Genre? Can “Babygirl” Breathe New Life Into a Retrograde Genre?

The movie, starring Nicole Kidman, operates at the level of the female gaze. Its inversion of erotic thriller tropes leads to fascinating but, at times, tepid results.

Jan 16, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Olga Tokarczuk’s New Rules for Realism

Olga Tokarczuk’s New Rules for Realism Olga Tokarczuk’s New Rules for Realism

In The Empusium, the Polish novelist’s first novel since her Nobel, she pays homage to Thomas Mann in order to redraw the boundaries of the realist novel.

Jan 15, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Jess Cotton

Nation Poetry

Leaving the Ruins Leaving the Ruins

Jan 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Peter Balakian

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