Don’t Worry, Be Happy Don’t Worry, Be Happy
David Brooks is a writer whose chief claim to fame is not what he says but where he says it.
Jun 3, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas von Hoffman
The Irresistible Rise of Berlusconi The Irresistible Rise of Berlusconi
Dressed up as a tropical dictator in a sketch by the great Italian political cartoonist Altan, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wears a double-breasted camouflage jacket, a goony...
Jun 3, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Frederika Randall
What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?
"If Bush gets re-elected, I'm moving to Canada!" Most of us who've vowed this, at one time or another, won't actually make good on our word.
Jun 2, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Kate Levin
Grapes of Wrath Grapes of Wrath
Several years ago, I did some reporting for a story that I wanted to write about wine and how it's advertised.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Matthew DeBord
Cutting Remarks Cutting Remarks
In 1966 Valerie Solanas moved to New York City. At 30, she was already a woman with a difficult past. Growing up in New Jersey, she was molested by her father.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Claire Dederer
Philosophical Convictions Philosophical Convictions
Philosophers get attention only when they appear to be doing something sinister--corrupting the youth, undermining the foundations of civilization, sneering at all we hold dear.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Richard Rorty
How the Other Half Votes How the Other Half Votes
For years the battle raged across my family's kitchen table.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / George Scialabba
Come Together Come Together
There's nothing like political disaster to turn soft porn into art. What would Hiroshima, Mon Amour be without Hiroshima?
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Cristina Nehring
Description of a Struggle Description of a Struggle
"You cannot take a man who was all struggle," wrote Tolstoy of Dostoyevsky, after his great rival's death, "and set him up on a monument for the instruction of posterity."
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Tim Parks
Top Gun Top Gun
Of the making of many books about Abraham Lincoln there is no end.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / James M. McPherson