Books and Ideas

Listing Left, Listing Right Listing Left, Listing Right

Devotees of "balanced," "objective," "fair" and "evenhanded" nonfiction--well, they be hurtin' in these early days of the twenty-first century. Enough, perhaps, to demand that sel...

May 2, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Carlin Romano

The Wonder Years The Wonder Years

Since this is going to be a story about sex and children, let's start with a bit of groping in the priests' chamber. I must have been 12. My confederates and I, all suited out ...

May 2, 2002 / Books & the Arts / JoAnn Wypijewski

The Great Societizer The Great Societizer

Reading Robert Caro to learn about Lyndon Johnson is like going to an elaborate buffet in order to get the four basic food groups; they both give you what you need along with much...

May 2, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Philip A. Klinkner

Melville at Sea Melville at Sea

In 1851, when the 32-year-old Herman Melville published his masterpiece Moby-Dick, he was already known as a man who'd consorted with cannibals. His first book, Typee: A Peep at P...

May 2, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Brenda Wineapple

A ‘Thirst for the Divine’ A ‘Thirst for the Divine’

Charles Wright and Charles Simic count among the best poets of their generation. Each career has unfolded with considerable excitement for serious readers of contemporary poetry, ...

May 2, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Jay Parini

The Torturer’s Apprentice The Torturer’s Apprentice

Alan Dershowitz prides himself on his credentials as a civil libertarian, and to judge by most of the essays in his latest book, Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent A...

Apr 25, 2002 / Books & the Arts / William F. Schulz

Discovery/The Nation ’02 Prizewinners Discovery/The Nation ’02 Prizewinners

The Nation announces the winners of Discovery/ The Nation, the Joan Leiman Jacobson Poetry Prize. Now in its twenty-eighth year, it is an annual contest for poets whose work ha...

Apr 25, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Various Poets

American Dreams, Lost and Found American Dreams, Lost and Found

In this excerpt from his 2002 book, Studs Terkel recalls an encounter with Dennis Kucinich, "the boy-mayor of Cleveland," and follows his political odyssey.

Apr 18, 2002 / Feature / Studs Terkel

Big Food’s Real Appetites Big Food’s Real Appetites

More than the much-reviled products of Big Tobacco, big helpings and Big Food constitute the number-one threat to America's children, especially when the fare is helpings of fats,...

Apr 18, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Ian Williams

Ghost Buster Ghost Buster

To immerse oneself in Robert Caro's heroic biographies is to come face to face with a shocking but unavoidable realization: Much of what we think we know about money, power and p...

Apr 18, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

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