The God that flickered

by Gary Saul Morson

On Alexander Herzen and the revolutionary mind.

The woman who saw the future

by James Panero

On Anna Bowman Dodd and The Republic of the Future.

The rules of the game

by William Logan.

On In the Lateness of the World by Carolyn Forché, Nobody: A Rhapsody to Homer by Alice Oswald, Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan, and more.

Raphael, interrupted

by James Hankins

On Raphael’s brief turn as an architect.

Leaping the fence

by Nicola Shulman

On English gardens and style.

June 2020

Notes & Comments

The dark side of farce

On The 1619 Project’s Pulitzer Prize.

Many thanks & a few farewells

The 2019–2020 season comes to a close.

Features

Burke & Trump

by Conrad Black

Remarks by this year’s recipient of the Edmund Burke Award.

The God that flickered

by Gary Saul Morson

On Alexander Herzen and the revolutionary mind.

Leaping the fence

by Nicola Shulman

On English gardens and style.

“Beowulf” & history

by Jacob Howland

On men and monsters in the great Anglo-Saxon epic.

Poems

On being ill

by James Matthew Wilson

Theory of incompleteness

by Amit Majmudar

Reflections

Another look at “The History Man”

by Steve Morris

On Malcom Bradbury and his novel of choices.

Reconsiderations

The woman who saw the future

by James Panero

On Anna Bowman Dodd and The Republic of the Future.

Dance

“West Side Story” without Robbins

by Laura Jacobs

On the new production by Ivo van Hove and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

Theater

The puritan bohemian

by Kyle Smith

On the fame of George Bernard Shaw.

Art

Raphael, interrupted

by James Hankins

On Raphael’s brief turn as an architect.

Matisse & the surrogate figure

by Karen Wilkin

On Henri Matisse and his mediated images.

Bernini & Buonarroti

by Eric Gibson

On Bernini’s Michaelangelo by Carolina Mangone.

Exhibition note

by Clive Aslet

On “Piranesi Drawings: Visions of Antiquity” at the British Museum, London.

Music

New York chronicle

by Jay Nordlinger

On Igor Levit in Germany; Maxim Vengerov, Peter Laul & Boris Andrianov in St. Petersburg; Robert Kahn’s “America the Beautiful”; and the Met’s “at-home gala.”

The media

After algebra

by James Bowman

On equations in the media.

Verse chronicle

The rules of the game

by William Logan

On In the Lateness of the World by Carolyn Forché, Nobody: A Rhapsody to Homer by Alice Oswald, Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan, Stranger at Night by Edward Hirsch, After Callimachus by Stephanie Burt, and Summer Snow by Robert Hass.

Notebook

The choleric outbreak

by Theodore Dalrymple

On anger and its contemporary causes.

Week in review

by Robert S. Erickson

May 29, 2020

On Mozart, Simenon & Sherman.

A gala, cont.

May 29, 2020

On the Metropolitan Opera’s “at home” affair.

Honoring victimhood

by James Bowman

May 28, 2020

On memorials and their purpose.

Planting the Plantagenets

by Paul du Quenoy

May 27, 2020

A review of Richard III: The Self-Made King by Michael Hicks.

The Critic’s Notebook

by The Editors

May 27, 2020

On Raphael, Anton Chekhov, The Burlington Magazine & more from the world of culture.

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Books

Back to school

on The Marginal Revolutionaries by Janek Wasserman

reviewed by Timothy Congdon

For king & company

on Mr. Smith Goes to China by Jessica Hanser

reviewed by Jeremy Black

Heroic aspirations

on The Sarpedon Krater by Nigel Spivey

reviewed by Seán Hemingway

Bookstore

The God that flickered

by Gary Saul Morson

The woman who saw the future

by James Panero

The rules of the game

by William Logan.

Raphael, interrupted

by James Hankins

Leaping the fence

by Nicola Shulman

June 2020

Notes & Comments

The dark side of farce

Many thanks & a few farewells

Features

Burke & Trump

by Conrad Black

The God that flickered

by Gary Saul Morson

Leaping the fence

by Nicola Shulman

“Beowulf” & history

by Jacob Howland

Poems

On being ill

by James Matthew Wilson

Theory of incompleteness

by Amit Majmudar

Reflections

Another look at “The History Man”

by Steve Morris

Reconsiderations

The woman who saw the future

by James Panero

Dance

“West Side Story” without Robbins

by Laura Jacobs

Theater

The puritan bohemian

by Kyle Smith

Art

Raphael, interrupted

by James Hankins

Matisse & the surrogate figure

by Karen Wilkin

Bernini & Buonarroti

by Eric Gibson

Exhibition note

by Clive Aslet

Music

New York chronicle

by Jay Nordlinger

The media

After algebra

by James Bowman

Verse chronicle

The rules of the game

by William Logan

Notebook

The choleric outbreak

by Theodore Dalrymple

Week in review

by Robert S. Erickson

May 29, 2020

A gala, cont.

May 29, 2020

Honoring victimhood

by James Bowman

May 28, 2020

Planting the Plantagenets

by Paul du Quenoy

May 27, 2020

The Critic’s Notebook

by The Editors

May 27, 2020

Stay informed with our weekly email newsletter, “The Critic’s Notebook.”

Subscribe to our Critic's Notebook

A free weekly newsletter about arts & culture

Books

Back to school

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Critic's Notebook

1
The hypocrisy of Noam Chomsky by Keith Windschuttle

2
Herman Melville by Walker Percy

3
Henry James’s America by Stephen Miller

4
New York chronicle by Jay Nordlinger

5
The scab & the wound beneath by Victor Davis Hanson

6
The dark side of farce

7
Burke & Trump by Conrad Black

8
The God that flickered by Gary Saul Morson

9
The puritan bohemian by Kyle Smith

10
Raphael, interrupted by James Hankins

1
Holmes & his commentators by Theodore Dalrymple

2
The hypocrisy of Noam Chomsky by Keith Windschuttle

3
Inhuman power of the lie: “The Great Terror” at 40 by Michael Weiss

4
The perversions of M. Foucault by Roger Kimball

5
Herman Melville by Walker Percy

6
The culture of corona

7
The scab & the wound beneath by Victor Davis Hanson

8
George Will’s “conservatism” by James Piereson

9
Like the plague by James Panero

10
The puritan bohemian by Kyle Smith

1
Why I became a conservative by Roger Scruton

2
The perversions of M. Foucault by Roger Kimball

3
How the great truth dawned by Gary Saul Morson

4
Leninthink by Gary Saul Morson

5
Borges’s mirror by Jacob Howland

6
A genuinely transgressive act

7
1619 & all that

8
Pre- & post-citizens by Victor Davis Hanson

9
The culture of corona

10
The scab & the wound beneath by Victor Davis Hanson

1
The perversions of M. Foucault by Roger Kimball

2
“The Idiot” savant by Gary Saul Morson

3
The good populism by Victor Davis Hanson

4
Decline & fall: classics edition

5
The greatest of all novels by Gary Saul Morson

6
“Massive retaliation”: the only answer

7
How the great truth dawned by Gary Saul Morson

8
Leninthink by Gary Saul Morson

9
A genuinely transgressive act

10
1619 & all that