Rearranging the Furniture Rearranging the Furniture
For prose scholar Viktor Shklovsky, who lived by the code of style and studied its depths, an unhappy love affair can be as much a personal tragedy as a plot device for more writin...
Oct 6, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Elif Batuman
Fighting the Abyss Fighting the Abyss
Although The Aesthetics of Resistance delves into leftist notions of art and class struggle, this account of an anti-Nazi youth group in Germany seems outdated now.
Sep 29, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg
In Search of Sam Cooke In Search of Sam Cooke
A womanizing gospel king and black-pride pop star, Sam Cooke led a short life filled with contradiction.
Sep 22, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Robert Christgau
New World Symphony New World Symphony
Joseph Horowitz diligently lays out the immense problems that face American classical music today, and his warnings cannot go unheeded.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Russell Platt
Barbara Ehrenreich’s White Collar Blues Barbara Ehrenreich’s White Collar Blues
Barbara Ehrenreich probes a deeper level of white-collar angst: people who lose or quit their corporate jobs and routinely spend months, even years, finding another.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Michael Kazin
Rushdie’s Receding Talent Rushdie’s Receding Talent
It has almost become a sadness to review a novel by Salman Rushdie. Shalimar the Clown is no exception.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Lee Siegel
Zadie Smith’s Indecision Zadie Smith’s Indecision
It can't be easy to rein in a writer as successful as Zadie Smith. Her new novel, On Beauty, proves it's almost impossible.
Sep 15, 2005 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Good Vibrations Good Vibrations
Orgasms used to be a secret, then they became a right. Now they're a duty. It's time to explode the myths.
Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Cristina Nehring
Requiem for a Dream Requiem for a Dream
Daniel Fuchs's The Golden West is best read as an author's requiem for the Hollywood he loved.
Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / David L. Ulin
Optimism of the Will Optimism of the Will
The rich legacy of former Nation editor and activist Carey McWilliams is on full display in three books.
Sep 1, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Mike Davis