Books

Book Review: “Making Music American — 1917 and the Transformation of Culture”

February 28, 2019
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1917 was an important year, but perhaps not important enough to justify the sweeping title of the book.

Book Review: “The Western Wind” — A Magisterial Murder Mystery

February 22, 2019
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The Western Wind turns out to be a beautifully written novel, a serious book of great depth, intention, and craft.

Book Review: “Gatsby’s Child” — America’s Old Money, In Decay

February 18, 2019
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Everything about Schumacher’s story indicates that clichés about the ’50s are so powerful because things really were that way: repressive, poisonous, full of unspoken secrets and blustering ignorance.

Book Review: “Madonna in a Fur Coat” — Sabahattin Ali’s Extensive Epitaph

February 11, 2019
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It’s worth pointing out that Sabahattin Ali has deliberately reversed traditional gender roles in Madonna in a Fur Coat.

Book Review: “The Rebels and Other Short Fiction” — The Irish, Defeated

February 9, 2019
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This fine collection of short fiction reinforces Richard Power’s reputation as a master storyteller.

Book Review: Anne Frank’s Diary — The Graphic Version

February 9, 2019
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I’m impressed with the new adaptation and depressed that it’s considered necessary.

Book Review: Anthony Powell — Among the Most Modern of 20th Century English Writers

February 8, 2019
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Although Anthony Powell’s stock has gone down since he died in 2000, I hope that this new biography will spark interest in A Dance to the Music of Time.

Book Review: “The Burning House” — Diversity in Segregation

February 2, 2019
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Anders Walker’s The Burning House sheds fascinating light on a forgotten piece of intellectual history in the Jim Crow South.

Arts Remembrance: Poet Mary Oliver

January 19, 2019
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Mary Oliver’s poetic vision reaches back to the American transcendentalists: it encourages us, by demanding that we pay attention to our now threatened natural world, to find a moral compass.

Arts Commentary: The Authors Guild’s Modest Proposal

January 18, 2019
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Invariably, these economic realities are barriers to entry into the broader cultural arena for the less-well-heeled among us, sustaining inequity.

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