The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan
An artist known as a trickster and showman stages a disappearing act at the Guggenheim.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Crime and Punishment: On William Stuntz Crime and Punishment: On William Stuntz
A lack of local democracy and equal protection has led to the collapse of the American criminal justice system.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell
Algeria’s Wounds Algeria’s Wounds
Most people caught up in the Algerian War left no accounts of it at all.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Richard Vinen
The Language The Language
field of black sheep who know Church Latin a shipyard of vessels all named Sentence a tangle of words in a basket of laundry a night like no other blackbirds falling like endings a gift unrecognized by grace a barrel only a barrel at the Stoics’ Hotel they stay for years getting lost in the language
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Maxine Chernoff
‘The Iron Lady’: The Margaret Thatcher Movie We Don’t Need ‘The Iron Lady’: The Margaret Thatcher Movie We Don’t Need
In the new bio-pic, Margaret Thatcher's iron isn’t just rusty, it’s melted down into something soft and personal. The Iron Lady gives us Thatcher, the ABBA Version...
Jan 4, 2012 / Blog / Laura Flanders
Automatic Pundit Readjustment After Each Primary Vote Automatic Pundit Readjustment After Each Primary Vote
They’ll picture what we can expect, With certainty in their depictions. But first they’ll erase from their minds Their previous certain predictions.
Jan 4, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Anxious and Paralyzed: On Spahr, Gordon, Moschovakis and Ossip Anxious and Paralyzed: On Spahr, Gordon, Moschovakis and Ossip
Books by four poets about big modern systems whose results and failures seem inescapable.
Jan 4, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Burt
Black Candle Black Candle
Your girlish shoulders are for blushing, For blushing under whips, and in dawn’s raw ice to shine. Your child-like hands are for pushing, For pushing flatirons and feed sacks, and knotting twine. Your feet, infant-tender, are for tiptoeing, Tiptoeing through shattered glass, in the blood-tracked clay. And I, I am for you, a black candle burning, Like a black candle I am burning, and dare not pray. (translated from the Russian by Christian Wiman)
Jan 4, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Osip Mandelstam
Last Year’s Model: On Simon Reynolds Last Year’s Model: On Simon Reynolds
A critic of pop’s retro turn can’t shake his own strain of pop nostalgia.
Jan 4, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Sara Marcus
Extremely Extremely
Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Wim Wenders’s Pina.
Jan 4, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans