Reading on the Brain Reading on the Brain
In the history of reading, does progress hinge on the weird, obsolete or eccentric among us?
Apr 5, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
A Conscious Pariah A Conscious Pariah
Raul Hilberg, the first historian to document the banality of Nazi evil, nursed a lifelong grudge against the woman who borrowed from and popularized his work, Hannah Arendt.
Mar 31, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Nathaniel Popper
One From the Heart One From the Heart
The superficial sincerity of Noah Baumbach's Greenberg is not to be trusted.
Mar 31, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Lolita Lolita
Once he has swallowed the disappointment of discovering that Lolita in the movie is pushing hard on the age of consent, the libidinous critic must decide what if anything he can ...
Mar 30, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Robert Hatch
The Catch The Catch
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a ratio...
Mar 30, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Nelson Algren
Superfluity and Bounty Superfluity and Bounty
The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is a reserve set aside for thinking about the categorical inferiority of destruction to creation.
Mar 23, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
Living for the City Living for the City
There's more to the legend of Jane Jacobs than her showdown with Robert Moses.
Mar 18, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Zipp
Privacy Degree Zero Privacy Degree Zero
For all its defenders, privacy remains hard to understand.
Mar 18, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Paul Duguid
A Wise Unknowingness A Wise Unknowingness
"There is such a thing as a moral atmosphere." So said Violet Gibson, the woman who shot Mussolini.
Mar 18, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Brenda Wineapple
The Great White Whale in San Francisco Bay The Great White Whale in San Francisco Bay
How the "Lively Arts" became "The Media."
Mar 16, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Lewis Lapham