Books
I found Through a Screen Darkly to be as enlightening as it is useful: we don’t just read about and invest our emotions in other lives; we learn what to do about our own.
Flame in a Stable admits the reader into the committed life of a literate, far-reaching, colloquial, passionate, playful, and witty poetic voice,
Joseph Horowitz’s short, punchy, well-sourced, and compulsively readable book argues for bringing back the forgotten works of important Black composers.
Is it at all remotely important to know how gift-giving became a Hanukkah tradition in America?
An eclectic round-up of the favorite books of the year from our critics, including some disappointments.
“By cultivating our capacity for empathetic critical inquiry, Greek myths caution us against entertainers, pundits, politicians, and journalists who are trying to inflame our anger and fear.”
The poems in Winter Recipes from the Collective are about bearing with life in a barren place; they do the kind of singing Bertolt Brecht said was necessary when dealing with “the dark times.”
Magic is a performative pursuit as demanding as high-wire acrobatics — yet a vocation lacking respect, perhaps for good reason.
“Concord was actually surprisingly representative of Massachusetts, New England, and maybe even the North in the 19th century. In learning about Concord, you learn about the making of modern America.”
Book Review: “Drawing the Line” — How to Respond to “Immoral” Artists
Drawing the Line is grounded in the work of ethicists and psychologists. Its prose is clear and its arguments systematic. But every avenue of investigation only opens up another pathway that ends as a cul-de-sac or doubles back on itself.
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