Books and Ideas

Results of a Survey Asking the American People How They Feel About the Unending Discussion of the Fiscal Cliff, the Debt Ceiling, Restructuring Entitlements, Revenue Versus Spending, Etc., Etc., Etc. Results of a Survey Asking the American People How They Feel About the Unending Discussion of the Fiscal Cliff, the Debt Ceiling, Restructuring Entitlements, Revenue Versus Spending, Etc., Etc., Etc.

The subject is vital. We never would doubt it. We’d rather go broke, though, than hear more about it.

Jan 16, 2013 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Among the Blasphemers: On Salman Rushdie

Among the Blasphemers: On Salman Rushdie Among the Blasphemers: On Salman Rushdie

Joseph Anton is a tale of betrayals: of free speech, communities, religion, marriages, personal convictions, friends.

Jan 16, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami

Shelf Life

Shelf Life Shelf Life

Lucia Perillo’s On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths.

Jan 16, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Burt

Nine Years in One Day: On Haiti

Nine Years in One Day: On Haiti Nine Years in One Day: On Haiti

The tension between the personal and the political permeates new books on Haiti by Amy Wilentz and Jonathan M. Katz.

Jan 16, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Madison Smartt Bell

Resistance Through Poetry Resistance Through Poetry

It’s how I came to understand that the world—and all oppression—is connected.

Jan 9, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Staceyann Chin

How the Study of History Can Contribute to Global Citizenship How the Study of History Can Contribute to Global Citizenship

We can truly know only that which we have made: human history.

Jan 9, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Stanislao G. Pugliese

Homage to a Creative Elder

Homage to a Creative Elder Homage to a Creative Elder

My Tante Rezia was a patron of the arts, one of those silent supporters that every family, every artist, has and needs but rarely acknowledges.

Jan 9, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Edwidge Danticat

The Nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense The Nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense

Opponents think that Hagel should Be more respectful of Likud. And on Iran, whose nuke we’re battling, He’s shown no zest for saber rattling. The first fight for this loyal lieutenant Won’t be abroad but in the Senate.

Jan 9, 2013 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Irritable Reachings: On John Keats

Irritable Reachings: On John Keats Irritable Reachings: On John Keats

A new biography of John Keats is no match for Keats’s poetic inventions.

Jan 9, 2013 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach

No Man Is an Island: Fiction, Trauma, War No Man Is an Island: Fiction, Trauma, War

How Argentine fiction about the Malvinas War conspires in a trick of perspective.

Jan 9, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Blitzer

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