Books and Ideas

Shelf Life

Shelf Life Shelf Life

The Complete Jean Vigo, Travis Wilkerson’s An Injury to One.

Jan 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Akiva Gottlieb

The Foundation Business: On Olivier Zunz The Foundation Business: On Olivier Zunz

There’s more to American nonprofits than the success of wealthy donors and their large foundations.

Jan 25, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Pablo Eisenberg

Two Attempts to Explain the Resurrection of Newt Gingrich Two Attempts to Explain the Resurrection of Newt Gingrich

                          I. Yes, Newt appeared dead at least twice. If Mitt’s guys were playing it smart, They would have made certain of that By driving a stake through his heart.                             II. But Newt might have said if they had, Proceed, Mitt. You’ll see I won’t mind it. You’re free to drive stakes through my heart, Except that you’ll first have to find it.

Jan 25, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’ Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’

The swirl of controversy over Jodi Kantor’s biography reflects deep cultural anxieties about the limits we place on women in power.

Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ilyse Hogue

An Explanation of Gingrich’s Ad Accusing Romney of Being Able to Speak French An Explanation of Gingrich’s Ad Accusing Romney of Being Able to Speak French

Big Mo is what Gingrich is desperate to stop. He talks of how Romney will flip and will flop. He charges that Romney now goes through contortions To hide being someone who funded abortions And hide that in business wherever he’d roam Some innocent workers would lose hearth and home. There’s no way, Newt says, you can call Mitt a mensch. But what’s even worse is, the man can speak French.   Yes, being bilingual is really too much. It shows you’re elitist and way out of touch. Bilingual means speaking one language too many. We’ve voted for leaders who hardly speak any. Republican voters know one thing. It’s this: That ignorance rocks. (It’s sometimes called bliss.) So all Romney-huggers should undo their clench. Mitt Romney’s a menace: the man can speak French.

Jan 18, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

All that Lore: On James Wolcott

All that Lore: On James Wolcott All that Lore: On James Wolcott

The critic James Wolcott has been gamely fighting losing battles for most of his career.

Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson

Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use

Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use

Have copyright laws failed?

Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Caleb Crain

Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett

In Assumption a murder mystery becomes a lesson in how much we do not know.

Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami

Newt Lays Into Mitt Newt Lays Into Mitt

It’s “pious baloney.” Yes, pious baloney. What Mitt speaks, Newt says, is remarkably phony: His outsider citizen pose is all hooey; He’s hungered for office like Thomas E. Dewey. And what he was doing those years spent at Bain Was not create jobs but cause working stiffs pain. While Newt covers Mitt’s smooth exterior with blotches, Obama’s campaign staff just carefully watches.

Jan 11, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Algeria’s Wounds Algeria’s Wounds

Most people caught up in the Algerian War left no accounts of it at all.

Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Richard Vinen

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