Diaghilev in Perm Diaghilev in Perm
Few Westerners have ever heard of Perm. A former czarist administrative center, rustbelt Soviet city and gateway to the gulag, Perm was long off-limits to foreigners.
Nov 6, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Lynn Garafola
Lost Causes Lost Causes
Nations, like individuals, sustain trauma, mourn and recover. And like individuals they survive by making sense of what has befallen them, by constructing a narrative of loss a...
Nov 6, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Laqueur
A Configuration of Themes A Configuration of Themes
This essay--Edward W. Said's first piece for The Nation from the magazine's May 30, 1966, issue--is a special selection from The Nation Digital Archive. If you want to read everyth...
Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Edward W. Said
Oy Gay! Oy Gay!
Without baring flesh, exchanging fluids or even shedding blood, Will & Grace has become the craftiest, if not the most radical, show in the history of network television--t...
Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Kera Bolonik
Willie Nelson at 70 Willie Nelson at 70
On April 30, Willie Nelson turned 70, celebrating with the release of his latest greatest-hits collection.
Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
About Begley About Begley
Louis Begley is perhaps currently best known as the author of About Schmidt, the novel from which the recent acclaimed film starring Jack Nicholson was adapted.
Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Claire Messud
The Curse of the Caucasus The Curse of the Caucasus
When George Kennan set out for the Caucasus in 1870, few if any Americans had explored the highlands of Dagestan, Chechnya and the wild frontiers of imperial Russia. And with good ...
Oct 30, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Raffi Khatchadourian
What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?
Kingdom of Shadows, the sixth of Alan Furst's novels of historical espionage fiction, was hard for me to put down--and when I did, I couldn't wait to pick it up again.
Oct 25, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Peter I. Fifield
The Avengers The Avengers
Ghosts are notorious for getting stuck in time. Having lost track of the ongoing world, they will revisit certain hours as obsessively as they haunt a fatal spot.
Oct 23, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
A Kiss in Java A Kiss in Java
In a broad square not far from the center of Jakarta, a large obelisk of concrete soars into the sky.
Oct 23, 2003 / Books & the Arts / Patrick Smith