This Is a Recording: On Alan Lomax This Is a Recording: On Alan Lomax
How Alan Lomax became the most significant Baedeker of America’s folkways.
Aug 24, 2011 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe
Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon was a model citizen of the republic of letters—a community more durable than any church and broader than academia.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Sam Stark
Shostakovich’s Ambivalence Shostakovich’s Ambivalence
The musical and political strands of Dmitri Shostakovich's life were intertwined like the braids of a noose.
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell
History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg History and Heartbreak: The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg wanted it all: books and music, sex and art, evening walks and the revolution. Her lover, Leo Jogiches, told her this was nonsense.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick
On the Case: On Simon Wiesenthal On the Case: On Simon Wiesenthal
As Tom Segev’s biography makes clear, in the entire pantheon of Jewish superheroes there is no more unlikely figure than Simon Wiesenthal.
Apr 6, 2011 / Books & the Arts / D.D. Guttenplan
A Minor Exception: On W.C. Minor and Noah Webster A Minor Exception: On W.C. Minor and Noah Webster
The career of W.C. Minor is a reminder that the legacy of Yale's lexicographers is no less noteworthy than that of its deconstructionists.
Mar 16, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Kendall
Risk the Game: On William James Risk the Game: On William James
For William James, all our certitudes depend on the pretense that there are no radical mysteries underlying them.
Nov 23, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Marilynne Robinson
The Dirty Halo: On Sarah Bernhardt The Dirty Halo: On Sarah Bernhardt
Robert Gottlieb's vigorous biography of Sarah Bernhardt shows the actress in all her workaholic, passionate and unsentimental force.
Nov 23, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Jana Prikryl
Burning Down the House: On Ed Koch Burning Down the House: On Ed Koch
Ed Koch rebuilt New York City by demolishing its long-running experiments in urban liberalism.
Nov 23, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Zipp
Without Artifice: On William Brennan Without Artifice: On William Brennan
Justice William Brennan's watchword was human dignity, and to protect it he interpreted individual rights expansively.
Nov 17, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell