Featured

Book Review: Doris Lessing’s Colossal Range

March 6, 2006
Posted in ,

The indispensable octogenarian, Doris Lessing, continues to astonish with her latest books. “Time Bites: Views and Reviews” (HarperCollins) and “The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, and Griot and the Snow Dog” (HarperCollins) by Doris Lessing. By Harvey Blume When I interviewed Doris Lessing several years ago apropos “Walking in the Shade: 1949-1962,” the…

Read More

Film Review: Still in Bondage — Movies About Slavery, post Civil War

February 22, 2006
Posted in , ,

Two new films explore the provocative premise that slavery in America didn’t end after the Civil War.

Read More

Book Feature: Beyond Stereotypes — Being Jewish in Germany

February 14, 2006
Posted in ,

By Liza Weisstuch An illuminating new book suggests that, post-Holocaust, the question is no longer whether Jews should live in Germany but how they should live there. Being Jewish in the New Germany by Jeffrey Peck. (Rutgers University Press) Read an excerpt from “Being Jewish in the New Germany.” Last year marked the 60-year anniversary…

Read More

Book Review: “Veronica” — Hooked on a Thrill

February 6, 2006
Posted in ,

Mary Gaitskill’s fine novel “Veronica” explores the links between beauty and ugliness.

Read More

Film Review: “Caché” — Nowhere To Hide

January 11, 2006
Posted in , ,

Michael Haneke’s sharp and timely thriller explores how the shadows of a man’s past can come back to haunt him with a vengeance.

Read More

Dance Feature: Helping Fayard Nicholas

January 6, 2006
Posted in ,

By Debra Cash Only medical skill, the support of friends and family and perhaps the prayers of his fans can help Fayard Nicholas recover from the stroke the gentlemanly 91-year old African-American dancer suffered on November 22, 2005. But those of us who thrilled to the virtuoso tap dancing of the Nicholas Brothers in the…

Read More

Dance Review: Dance Against Atrocity

November 15, 2005
Posted in , ,

Audacious as it sounds, a new dance work by an innovative choreographer explores how human beings have expanded our ability to articulate the nature of crimes against humanity. “Small Dances about Big Ideas” by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Company. By Debra Cash It was counterintuitive, to say the least, when Professor Martha Minow asked…

Read More

Nix Chick Lit

November 14, 2005
Posted in ,

Anyone who reads this bestselling, critically acclaimed novel becomes part of the focus group for the inevitable television or Hollywood stinker.

Read More

Film Commentary: A Touch of Awe

October 28, 2005
Posted in , ,

At a time when special effects in films are increasingly computerized, it is inspiring to be reminded that images can be more than surfaces that thrill. A festival of movies by the master of the silent cinema, F.W. Murnau, will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard Film Archive (with support from the…

Read More

Book Review: Don’t Fear the Cyborg

September 15, 2005
Posted in ,

An engaging new memoir explores how the fusion of man and machine is about maintaining humanity, not creating monsters.

Read More

Recent Posts