Books and Ideas

Unsentimental Education Unsentimental Education

A new memoir by Robert Hughes reveals the idiosyncratic sensibility of a celebrated art critic.

Sep 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Hitchens

Londonistan Calling Londonistan Calling

Gautam Malkani's new novel explores the cross-section of youth culture, heritage and identity in London's polyglot, postcolonial neighborhoods.

Sep 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Gary Younge

Ottoman Ghosts Ottoman Ghosts

Caroline Finkel's new book, Osman's Dream, explores the rise and calamitous fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Sep 7, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Lazare

George Bush’s Pledge to the People of New Orleans on the Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina George Bush’s Pledge to the People of New Orleans on the Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

The President gives us a lesson in drive-by personal diplomacy.

Sep 7, 2006 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Too Late for Empire Too Late for Empire

Thirty years after Watergate, we again face a constitutional crisis at home and a misconceived war abroad. The United States will remain a helpless giant until we finally learn tha...

Sep 2, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Schell

Tavis Smiley’s Covenant Tavis Smiley’s Covenant

Journalist, activist, philanthropist and self-promoter, Tavis Smiley has the political clout and the ability to energize and educate the black community in the best tradition of Ma...

Sep 1, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Amy Alexander

Naguib Mahfouz: An Appreciation Naguib Mahfouz: An Appreciation

Egypt has been deprived of its greatest living writer, and the world has lost one of its most humane literary figures.

Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami

The Chinese Evolution The Chinese Evolution

Three new books on China invite the West to give up simplistic dreams and nightmares and come to terms with a complex and rapidly evolving authoritarian state.

Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Poetry, From Noun to Verb Poetry, From Noun to Verb

Nathaniel Mackey's most recent collection of subtle, intricate poetry weaves images from Arab and African diasporas with a contemporary sense of dislocation.

Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella

Writers From the Other Asia Writers From the Other Asia

Four new books explore Korea's cold war hangover and the indelible mark left by its North-South division.

Aug 31, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Feffer

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