What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?
Since I'm from California, I sometimes dare to dispute the seemingly popular East Coast belief that my home state is a cultural wasteland.
Apr 13, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Abby Aguirre
L’Amérique, Mon Amour L’Amérique, Mon Amour
Along with the Bible and Moby-Dick, Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America has got to be one of the world's least-read classics.
Apr 8, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Lazare
Chronicle of a Disappearance Chronicle of a Disappearance
A rough but accurate gauge of national resilience: When dictators fall, how soon do filmmakers rise again? In the case of Argentina, the recovery was impressively quick.
Apr 8, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Prison Without Walls Prison Without Walls
Our nation's two-decade spree of building prisons and sentencing even nonviolent criminals to long spells inside them has produced a staggering number of incarcerated people in A...
Apr 8, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Egan
Staring at the Sea Staring at the Sea
Toward the end of January, I received an invitation to a press opening for "Manet and the Sea," at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Apr 1, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto
Empty Vessel Empty Vessel
For a man who destroyed his country and wrecked or stole hundreds of thousands of lives, Slobodan Milosevic is an oddly colorless villain.
Apr 1, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Laura Secor
Everybody’s Talking About the Weather Everybody’s Talking About the Weather
The last few years have seen renewed interest in the Weathermen.
Mar 30, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jeremy Varon
Speak, Memory Speak, Memory
Not wanting to curse Charlie Kaufman with too much praise, I'm tempted to say that his nonexistent twin Donald is the best American screenwriter since Preston Sturges.
Mar 25, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Heart of Gold Heart of Gold
Courtney Love's new record is called America's Sweetheart. Take that. It's a name that has been used facetiously by the press to describe her.
Mar 25, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Priscilla Becker
In America In America
If the words "first novel" and "arrival of a major American talent" appear on the front flap of a dust jacket, you can almost be sure that the picture on the back flap will depic...
Mar 25, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Philip Connors