The Misunderstood Robber Baron: On Cornelius Vanderbilt The Misunderstood Robber Baron: On Cornelius Vanderbilt
T.J. Stiles's The First Tycoon is a gilded portrait of the robber baron Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Nov 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Steve Fraser
Mahler’s Body Mahler’s Body
Gustav Mahler's embrace of Germanness and battles with anti-Semitism.
Jun 24, 2009 / Books & the Arts / David Schiff
Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters
A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.
Apr 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Michelle Orange
This Small Extravagance: The Life of Shakespeare’s Mind This Small Extravagance: The Life of Shakespeare’s Mind
Writing a biography of the mind of Shakespeare is a challenge that requires the ingenuity of an artist.
Apr 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics
Unraveling the Kafkaesque mystique of Franz Kafka.
Feb 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Provan
In His League: Being George Plimpton In His League: Being George Plimpton
An affectionate and absorbing oral history raises questions of whether George Plimpton's amiable exterior concealed a man without qualities.
Jan 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman
That Girl: The Captivity and Restoration of Patty Hearst That Girl: The Captivity and Restoration of Patty Hearst
Was Patty Hearst really a rebel in search of a cause?
Dec 10, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Rick Perlstein
Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat
The intimate friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson takes wing in two new books.
Nov 19, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
Naipaul’s Darkness: Patrick French’s ‘The World Is What It Is’ Naipaul’s Darkness: Patrick French’s ‘The World Is What It Is’
Biographer Patrick French offers a vivid, sometimes enthralling portrait of a deeply enigmatic writer.
Nov 19, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman
Walter Benjamin Forever: A Critic’s Coveted Afterlife Walter Benjamin Forever: A Critic’s Coveted Afterlife
Following the quirky, revolutionary life path of one of the most celebrated twentieth-century intellectuals.
Oct 15, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg