Books

Book Review: “Mister Everywhere” — Pierre Rissient, the Unruly Champion of Cinema

March 29, 2026
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For half a century, cinephile, production assistant, filmmaker, press agent, producer, and programmer Pierre Rissient used all his powers to turn critical attention to filmmakers he took under his wing for their unusual personal vision.

Book Review: “This Is Where the Serpent Lives” — From Favorite to Felon

March 26, 2026
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This portrait of modern Pakistan is not only wrenching, but unflinching and true.

Book Review: In Search of Clarity and Love — Albert Camus’s Notebooks Chronicle the Making of a Mind

March 24, 2026
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Albert Camus’ notebooks shed light on the painstaking efforts of a major 20th-century writer to archive his thoughts — his struggle to make his vision clear, his prose lucid.

Book Review: When the Face Disappears, the Painting Speaks — Ewa Juszkiewicz

March 22, 2026
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Today, Ewa Juszkiewicz stands among the most incisive voices in contemporary art. Each work redefines how women may emerge in painting, charting new territories of meaning.

Book Review: “The Cat’s Eye Charm” — Cozy, Witchy, and Wonderful

March 21, 2026
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Clea Simon’s latest is an easy-going entertainment that will be a fine introduction to those who are only now discovering the author’s uniquely enchanting brand of feline genre fiction.

Poetry Review: Matt Bialer’s “Time Is, Was, Will Be” — Love and Grief in an Eternal Present

March 21, 2026
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Matt Bialer’s long poem doesn’t see time as a clock running to zero, but as an infinite love poem.

Book Review: Will Self’s Moral Reckoning — Satire for a Decadent Age

March 20, 2026
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As is the case with effective satirists, Will Self is nothing if not provocative.

Book Review: The Difficult Genius of Stephen Sondheim – Revisited

March 18, 2026
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Daniel Okrent’s “Art Isn’t Easy” is an engaging if familiar introduction to one of theater’s most complex figures – though seasoned Stephen Sondheim devotees may find themselves wanting more.

Book Review: “Of Loss and Lavender” — Sinan Antoon on Exile and Forgetting

March 16, 2026
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I cannot recall reading a more poignant and persuasive description of the inexorable descent of Alzheimer’s disease, certainly not from inside the sufferer’s mind.

Book Review: Toxic Completism — Rescuing Jazz from the Algorithm in “Listening to Prestige”

March 15, 2026
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“Listening to Prestige” can be read as a kind of post-literate anti-Spotify. And, lo and behold, it’s true jazz history.

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