The jury’s in. The critics who agreed with an early assessment that 1975’s Dhalgren is a “literary landmark” get to touch champagne flutes and congratulate one another.
Commentary
Album Reviews: The Proper Way to Reveal the Sound of the Past
Three releases that do a superb job of preserving and explaining historic recordings.
Book Review: Cowboys and the Wild East — “In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century”
Proceeding largely country by country, Sebastian Strangio penetratingly explores Southeast Asia’s multifaceted struggle with its behemoth Chinese neighbor.
Cultural Commentary: Goodbye Columbus — Mexico City’s “La Joven de Amajac” and “Tlalli” Sculptures
Mexico City settles on Columbus’ replacement, but finds that removal and substitution is agonizing in society which hasn’t changed all that much.
Author Interview: Vermont’s John Killacky — At the Service of Art, Critique, and Civic Conversation
“I believe artists create a safe space for unsafe ideas in our world.”
Arts Remembrance: Arnie Reisman — The Party of the First Part
In a way, Arnie was, to Boston, what George S. Kaufman was to the Algonquin Round Table, except the “vicious circle” lasted only ten years while Arnie enlivened his circle of friends for more than sixty.
Book Review: “The Mirror and the Palette” — Women’s Self-Portraits in Courage
By skillfully balancing the historical and the imaginative, The Mirror and the Palette is not only a delight to read, but inspirational.
Arts Commentary: It’s OK to Like Board Games, Even the Bad Ones
These cheesy board games were repetitive and horrible and I loved every one of them.
Theater Commentary: Theater in a Time of Emergency? — The Same Old Same Old
Are Boston’s stage critics disengaged from reality? Or is it that they are afraid to speak up?
Film Feature: A Dispatch from Boston’s Last Video Rental Store
“If you really like something and want to make sure you have access to everything, you’ll never do better than having the disc.”