Archive

Who Needs a “National” Music?: On Joseph Horowitz’s “Dvořák’s Prophecy: And the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music”
Horowitz’s book brims with detailed examples but its larger argument is unconvincing.
Tim RileyJan 28, 2022
- Music
At Least He Reached Consummation: On Frank Bidart’s “Against Silence”
Nathan Blansett considers “Against Silence” by Frank Bidart.
Nathan BlansettJan 27, 2022
- Poetry
55 Voices for Democracy: Birte Meier on Equal Pay
Birte Meier delivers a lecture as part of “55 Voices for Democracy.”
Birte MeierJan 27, 2022
Colson Comes to Harlem
Gabino Iglesias chases down “Harlem Shuffle,” a crime novel by Colson Whitehead set in 1960s Harlem.
Gabino IglesiasJan 27, 2022
- Noir
Birte Meier on Equal Pay
Jan 27, 2022
Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” and the Legacy of Afro-Asia
Mieko Anders uncovers traces of Afro-Asian collaboration in Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.”
Mieko AndersJan 26, 2022
- Film
White “Punks” Singing the N-Word: A Black Punk’s Incomplete Playlist
Mariah Stovall explores white musicians’ attempts to achieve nuance by using the N-word in their lyrics.
Mariah StovallJan 26, 2022
- Nonfiction
On “Wanda” as Carrier-Bag Feminist Film
Adèle Cassigneul compares two recent monographs on the landmark feminist film “Wanda” (1970).
Adèle CassigneulJan 26, 2022
- Film
The Jewish Decadence or the Decadence of Jews?
Natan M. Meir reviews the recently published book by Jonathan Freedman, “The Jewish Decadence: Jews and the Aesthetics of Modernity.”
Natan M. MeirJan 25, 2022
- Cultural Studies
In Praise of Lim
Dana Gioia celebrates the achievement of fellow Californian poet Shirley Geok-lin Lim.
Dana GioiaJan 25, 2022
Testimonies of Influence: On Imani Perry’s “South to America”
Suzanne Van Atten discusses the scope and complexity of Imani Perry’s explorations of race and the South.
Suzanne Van AttenJan 25, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
Paranoia, Obsession, and Murder in Robert M. Coates’s “Wisteria Cottage”
Jack Mearns examines Robert M. Coates’s “Wisteria Cottage,” a midcentury psychological noir from an author too often overlooked.
Jack MearnsJan 24, 2022
- Noir
“A Dyed-in-the-Wool Revolutionary Spirit”: Paul Gorman on the Legacy of Barney Bubbles
The late album-cover designer had a singular sensibility as recognizable as Lichtenstein’s or Kandinsky’s.
Elizabeth NelsonJan 24, 2022
- Art & Architecture
The Undoing: The Unusual, Unhappy “And Just Like That”
Philippa Snow reviews And Just Like that..., HBO Max's sexless, zombified, tragicomic return to Sex and the City
Philippa SnowJan 24, 2022
- Television
The Language of the Misfit: On Oğuz Atay’s “The Disconnected”
A great Turkish cult novel of the early ’70s is available in English translation (sort of).
Helen MackreathJan 23, 2022
- Around the World
- Fiction
Returning the Gaze
Margot Mifflin reviews Catherine McCormack’s “Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies.”
Margot MifflinJan 23, 2022
- Art & Architecture