Books & the Arts

The Revell Variations The Revell Variations

How much, in just twenty years, Donald Revell has changed! From the Abandoned Cities (1983), his debut volume, included a villanelle, a sestina, rhymed sonnets and meditative t...

Apr 24, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Burt

Minority Report Minority Report

Ever since Clark Kent first donned a pair of oversized glasses and, somewhat improbably, hid his Superman persona from Lois Lane, questions of identity have been a staple of th...

Apr 24, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Alan Jenkins

Fear Eats the Soul Fear Eats the Soul

Baghdad has fallen. The city has been taken by the troops who were bringing it freedom.

Apr 24, 2003 / Books & the Arts / John Berger

What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?

"The Moviegoer," by Walker Percy

Apr 18, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Swetala

Reel Men Reel Men

The film begins with a federal marshal intoning "This is a very difficult time for our country" and ends with the singing of the national anthem, performed before Rudy Giuliani...

Apr 17, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Class Struggle Class Struggle

In a nation that nominally eschews class distinctions as unbefitting our supposed classlessness, whose elected officials decry any protest over government largesse to the rich ...

Apr 17, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Peter Sacks

The Anatomy Lesson The Anatomy Lesson

Matthew Barney's Cremaster cycle

Apr 17, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto

Letter from Ground Zero Letter from Ground Zero

In the past 200 years, all of the earth's great territorial empires, whether dynastic or colonial, or both, have been destroyed. The list includes the Russian empire of the cza...

Apr 17, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Schell

Clash of Visualizations Clash of Visualizations

Consider this hypothetical situation.

Apr 10, 2003 / Books & the Arts / George Scialabba

The New Globetrotters The New Globetrotters

Globalization: Use this word in a sentence, especially as the cause of something bad, and you will get knowing nods all around.

Apr 10, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Susan J. Douglas

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