archive: Books & Arts

John Allison

Money for Nothing

Who caused the financial collapse? Just about everyone.

BY LEWIS E. LEHRMAN

January 14, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 17

The governor of Mecca and members of the Saudi royal family at the Kaaba, 2008

Riddle of the Sands

A view through the two-way mirror of Saudi Arabia.

BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ

January 14, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 17

The ‘grand design’ spiral galaxy, M81

Starting from Scratch

An infinite number of theories of existence.

BY LAWRENCE KLEPP

January 14, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 17

Tracy Spiridakos, Billy Burke, Daniella Alonso, Paras Patel

Rebels with Cause

Power tends to corrupt, and lack of power inspires rebellion.

BY ELI LEHRER

January 14, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 17

Visiting Martian, President Jack Nicholson, ‘Mars Attacks!’ (1996)

Art of the Possible

Surprising lessons to be learned in popular culture.

BY BRUCE EDWARD WALKER

December 31 - January 7, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 16

Inside the offices of Faber & Gwyer, London, 1926

Sincerely, Young Possum

T. S. Eliot on the threshold of eminence.

BY WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD

December 31 - January 7, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 16

Rob Lowe, Sheryl Berkoff

Happier Ending

In the ranks of show-biz memoirs, an unexpected gem.

BY JOHN PODHORETZ

December 31 - January 7, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 16

Daniel Klein on Hydra

Growing Older

The best is yet to be, with adjustments.

BY ELISABETH EAVES

December 31 - January 7, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 16

Allen C. Guelzo

Aftermyth of War

The Lost Cause is among the casualties in this definitive history.

BY MACKUBIN THOMAS OWENS

December 31 - January 7, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 16

Suraj Sharma as Pi, with shipmate

Hold That Tiger

Brilliant cinema in the service of one-size-fits-all faith.

BY JOHN PODHORETZ

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

In god we trust coins

First Principles

Dennis Prager defines the challenge for America.

BY MICHAEL WARREN

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

Citizen of Geneva

The hometown tribute to Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

BY PAULA DEITZ

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

Proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles, 1871

The German Question

Where did they come from, where are they going?

BY THOMAS A. KOHUT

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

Yannick Bison as Det. William Murdoch

Person of Interest

The greatest (fictional) detective just may be Canadian.

BY MICHAEL TAUBE

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

Charles Addams, Joan Fontaine (1962)

Black Humorist

The funny-macabre century of Charles Addams.

BY JONATHAN LEAF

December 24, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 15

‘Self-Portrait with Beret’ (ca. 1899)

Postmodern Cézanne

This is what happens when politics distorts art.

BY MAUREEN MULLARKEY

December 17, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 14

General George C. Marshall (seated, left) and staff at the War Department (1941)

What Would Marshall Do?

Fire some generals, for starters.

BY TIM KANE

December 17, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 14

Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper

Unreal City

Is it possible not to feel good after seeing a feel-good movie?

BY JOHN PODHORETZ

December 17, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 14

Julian Symons

Symons Said

On the trail of a strange, elusive life in literature.

BY MICHAEL DIRDA

December 17, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 14

A series of tubes

Totally Tubular

The nuts and bolts and cables of the Internet.

BY JAMES BOLOGNA

December 17, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 14

Daniel Day Lewis

A Lincoln Portrait

The Great Emancipator transcends the material, as usual.

BY JOHN PODHORETZ

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

Victorian Bloomsbury

Eminent Precursors

Distinguished groups in Bloomsbury before there was a Bloomsbury Group.

BY EDWARD SHORT

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

Picasso's work

Monochrome Picasso

Weaving the Master’s spell without color.

BY DANIEL GOODMAN

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

Mayor Richard J. Daley overlooking a public-works project (1966)

Whose Kind of Town?

Understanding the Second City.

BY ANDREW FERGUSON

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

ohio

Goodbye, Columbus

A brief ‘au revoir’ to the Battleground State.

BY JOE QUEENAN

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

William Butler Yeats, T. S. Eliot (ca. 1925)

Metre Reader

America’s coming-of-age in poetic form.

BY WYATT PRUNTY

December 10, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 13

Stephen A. Douglas

Douglas of the West

He was not called ‘the Little Giant’ for nothing.

BY EDWARD ACHORN

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12

Tom Wolfe

Miami Vise

A Cuban-American cop gets caught in a web of allegiances.

BY BRIAN MURRAY

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12

‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke.’ (1971)

Kings of the Jingle

How music and commerce combine to make America.

BY TED GIOIA

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12

Engaged in Recitation

Reason for Rhyme

The lost art of memorizing (and reciting) verse.

BY WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12

St. Nicholas (detail) by Piero di Cosimo

Jolly Old St. Nick

His generosity and wonderworking were fabled in Christendom.

BY DAWN EDEN

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12

Indestructible Dream

Exploring the human instinct to live after death.

BY PETER LOPATIN

December 3, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 12