The Cartography of Death The Cartography of Death
Certainly...get him hanged! Why not? Anything--anything can be done in this country. --Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness So here we are, barely into the next century, and...
Oct 5, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Tom Engelhardt
A One and a Two A One and a Two
I have two films to tell you about in this column, one of which I recommend to your attention because it's beautiful, absorbing, touching and droll. It will involve you in the ch...
Oct 5, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
House Finches House Finches
To watch the pair of house finches that frequent the neighbor's feeder, I leave the charcoal blinds pulled up. The berry-splashed chest of the male-- each morning--make...
Oct 5, 2000 / Books & the Arts / John Poch
from ‘That Evening at Dinner’ from ‘That Evening at Dinner’
By the last few times we saw her it was clear That things were different. When you tried to help her Get out of the car or get from the car to the door Or across the apartme...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / David Ferry
Horace: Ode I.11 Horace: Ode I.11
Don't be too eager to ask What the gods have in mind for us, What will become of you, What will become ...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / David Ferry
The Chair The Chair
The chair left out in the garden night all winter Sits waiting for the summer day all night. The insides of the metal arms are frozen. Over the house the night sky wheel...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / David Ferry
from ‘Mary in Old Age’ from ‘Mary in Old Age’
"I don't want to stay here. I want to stop it." Was "here" the nursing home? Was it the chair? The condition she was in? Her life? Life? The body? . . . ......
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / David Ferry
2000 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize 2000 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
Of No Country I Know: New and Selected Poems and Translations represents a life's work in poetry. The component volumes did not meet with fanfare, yet the work is brilliant with ...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Mary Kinzie
A Riot of Personality A Riot of Personality
The first time I saw Anna Deavere Smith, I realized a new meaning had been given to the term "body politic." She was appearing in Fires in the Mirror, her show about the conflict...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
North of the Border North of the Border
One of the most haunting images in David Riker's film La Ciudad is of the New York City skyline seen from a work site miles away from midtown. There, a group of Hispanic dayworke...
Sep 28, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Michael Ugarte