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Multiple Google searches suggest that no one is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the second of Ben Jonson’s tragedies. I don’t think I will live to see a production of CATILINE, but attention should be paid to this awkward but powerful script. Filled with moral strength, perceptive realpolitik, and rich poetry, it proffers a brilliant serio-comic meditation on political gangsterism.
Read MoreOriginally published in 1963, and today considered by some critics a landmark in twentieth century Italian literature, in English Luigi Meneghello’s memoir feels more like a duty than a delight to read.
Read MoreWhat I do suspect though, and find evidence for in BLOODLUST is that Freud is immune to any final dispatch or disproof, and will likely, through one portal or another, go on reinserting himself into our culture.
Read MoreFor everyone who feels the attraction but lacks the study, THE WORD EXCHANGE is a huge gift. It’s the most generous sampling I’ve seen of poetry translated from Old English and collected in one volume.
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Head (mostly) north for August’s jazz festivals, which take us to Newport, Litchfield, Stonington, Martha’s Vineyard, New Haven, Lowell, Bar Harbor, Salem (MA) and Bangor.
Read MoreA fascinating adaptation, well worth the trip to out-of-the-way Chester, MA, TURN OF THE SCREW is never less than interesting and often all-absorbing — especially when actress Allison McLemore lets loose.
Read MoreThere is an almost Biblical resonance of utter destruction and an improbable, fervid humor in the prose of ANIMALINSIDE as the beast speaks directly to us, its voice moving between trapped panic, cunning hunger, and a vicious savagery.
Read MoreOn bad days, I tell people that as far as I’m concerned, New York museums can all go to hell until one of them gives more substantial attention to Fairfield Porter as well as to give a solo show to Jane Freilicher.
Read MoreSummer movie season continues — All month, everywhere not located under a rock.
Read MoreChain Letter is an ambitious maelstrom of eclectic works, but a caution to visitors: Go with an insider, a participating artist, or someone who’s close to the show.
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Arts Feature: Best Movies (With Some Disappointments) of 2025