American Civil War Dreamscape
Madison Smartt Bell takes on Nathan Forrest.
Robert Birnbaum
A Relentless Pursuit of Beauty
A majestic new bilingual volume of Rilke’s poetry.
Body Parts
British writer Will Self may seem to have odd preoccupations, but so what?
Obama si? Obama no?
Hendrick Hertzberg’s new account brings us up to Obama’s biggest problem: being elected.
Murder, He Wrote
Why do we kill more of each other than any other so-called civilized nation?
Bach in the Day
A book about six Bach cello suites and the legend Pablo Casals tells a very good story.
Extra, Extra
You’d be crazy to start a newspaper today. Or young and foolish. Or Dave Eggers.
A Modest List
OK, it’s a list. But it’s my list. Which makes it better than their lists.
Closer to Paradise
At least we haven’t killed the poets. Yet. Philip Levine’s new poetry is alert but hopeful.
Mann’s Man
Recent photographs by Sally Mann in a beautifully reproduced volume, “Proud Flesh.”