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Book Review: “Breslin: Essential Writings” — Compulsive Reading

March 18, 2024
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The notion that columnists like Breslin were “deadline artists” is apt. Their task was to come up with a story idea, track it down, then give it a narrative spark, all ahead of a ticking clock as the drop-deadline for the next edition loomed.

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Jazz Album Review: Julian Lage’s “Speak to Me” — Mostly Magical

March 18, 2024
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Guitarist Julian Lage wants his music to have a certain paradoxical lightness: to be “reckless and durable” at the same time.

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Opera Album Review: Two Comic Operas Thrive in Frenchified Versions

March 18, 2024
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Much-loved short works by Pergolesi and Mozart storm the stage, thanks to spiffy French dialogue between the musical numbers.

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Book Review: “Shakespeare and Baseball” — Make “Speed to Catch the Tiger”

March 18, 2024
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Professor Crowl’s attachments to both Shakespeare’s plays and the play of the Detroit Tigers are sincere and durable.

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Traveling Exhibit Review: “Auschwitz — Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.”

March 17, 2024
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“Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.” is compelling, but its message feels hermetically sealed — the exhibit needs to draw crucial connections with what is going on now.

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Television Review: “Girls 5eva,” Season Three — Back and Better Than Ever

March 17, 2024
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Wisely, Netflix has renewed “Girls5eva” for a third season. This series about a one-hit wonder ’90s girl group attempting to make a comeback remains as witty and satirical as ever

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Book Review: Debra Spark’s “Discipline” — A Mosaic of Mysteries

March 16, 2024
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Debra Spark’s novel “Discipline” explores thorny questions about the role of art and the nature of truth.

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Jazz Album Review: Tenor Saxophonist George Coleman Is in Command on One for All’s “Big George”

March 15, 2024
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“Big George” is polished, tonally elegant, and beautifully recorded

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Book Review: “The Road from Belhaven” — How Hope and Resilience Can Prevail

March 15, 2024
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Margot Livesey has given us an exhilarating historical novel filled with fascinating details of a different time in an isolated part of the world, all rendered in gorgeous prose.

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Theater Review: Touring “Girl From North Country” – A Slow, Serious Musical set to the Bob Dylan Catalog

March 15, 2024
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Bob Dylan’s music has rarely been more heartbreaking, his poetic storytelling rarely more beguiling, and the singing never less nasal.

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