RIP Morris Dickstein, among the last of the generation of the New York School of Jewish intellectuals, scholar/critics of massive knowledge and intellect who came from humble backgrounds.
criticism
Critical Commentary: The Shaky Life of a Film Critic
Cinema reviewing exists as a respected profession only as long as the traditional role of the critic is honored.
Arts Commentary: Reviewing Music, Re-viewed
Our opera-loving reviewer contrasts his own pieces, written 48 years apart, on the same Offenbach operetta.
Arts Commentary: WBUR’s Clogged “ARTery”
Every organization in the Barr Foundation’s charmed circle — large arts groups and The ARTery — have a financial stake in reinforcing the belief that the Barr’s money is being put to supremely successful use.
Critical Commentary: A Few Thoughts about John Simon
Few critics proclaimed that the emperor was naked as a jaybird with as much savvy panache.
Cultural Commentary: Arts Criticism — An Embarrassment of Whiteness
Can anyone — with a straight face — argue that our largely white critical contingent in Boston is interested in generating hard hitting debate, controversy, and unconventional ideas?
Theater Commentary: An Open Letter — to the “Open Letter”
The media big boys should be part of the discussion, if only because they have the resources to change the situation for the better.
Arts Fuse Podcast #14: Dialectics of Politicized Art, or the Intellectual History of White Men in Cars
The Arts Fuse welcomes a new character to its extended universe. Deanna Marie Costa, an editor and critic at the magazine.
Commentary/Interview: “Du Bois’s Telegram” — Restricting Literary Resistance
Is there a disconnect between artists and meaningful resistance movements?
Book Review: “American Audacity” — Literature is the One Religion Worth Having
Demanding that people pay attention to quality is about as audacious a demand you can take in our giddy culture.