Mary McCarthy & company
by Hilton Kramer
On Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy & Her World by Carol Brightman.
Features
Heroic failures: the “Malcolm X” phenomenon
by James Bowman
On Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee, and the two-dimensionality of heroism.
What Henry James knew
by Cynthia Ozick
On the hidden truths in the life and work of Henry James.
A transparent world: the notebooks of Paul Klee
by Deborah Rosenthal
On Klee’s notebooks as a tutorial to his personal visions.
Poems
Art
An American in Paris
by Jed Perl
On “Ellsworth Kelly: The Years in France, 1948-1954” at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Exhibition note
by Karen Wilkin
On Masterworks from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Exhibition note
by Eric Gibson
On “Kandinsky & the American Avant-Garde, 1912-1950” at the Dayton Art Institute.
Exhibition note
by Roger Kimball
On “Egypt’s Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III & His World” at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth.
Theater
Doing it wrong
by Donald Lyons
On the National Actors Theatre production of The Seagull & other plays.
Reconsiderations
You don’t say
by Terry Teachout
On Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities five years later.
Books
Flights of the enchanter
by Jenny Teichman
On Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals by Iris Murdoch.
He said, she said
by John Simon
Scrappy days
by Thomas Mallon
A review of My Life as Author & Editor by H. L. Mencken.
Most popular
Notebook
Music “Behind the Scenes”
by Samuel Lipman
On “Behind the Scenes” and the balance of entertainment and education in children’s programs.
Notes & Comments
Ms. Cheney’s departure
by The Editors
Lincoln Center (continued)
by The Editors