Of lapdogs & loners: American poetry today
by Eric Ormsby
On the distinctive state of poetry in America. The eighth of our series “Lengthened shadows: America and Its Institutions in the Twenty-first Century.”
Features
Elizabeth Bishop: from coterie to canon
by Dana Gioia
On the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop & the “important but elusive aspects of contemporary literary culture” that her canonization has revealed.
The morality of Anthony Hecht
by David Yezzi
On the complexity & significance of Anthony Hecht’s “moral orientation.”
The three voices of contemporary poetry
by Charles Martin
On the survival & well-being of the three voices of contemporary poetry as proposed by T. S. Eliot.
Free of our humbug: notes on Basil Bunting
by Christian Wiman
Reflections on the oldest profession
by Theodore Dalrymple
On the ubiquitous subject of crime & prostitution in the literary world.
Poems
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Theater
Fiddling with Fiddler
by Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn examines the new stage designs in, and context of, Leveaux’s revival of Fiddler.
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Art
An island paradise in Boston
by Karen Wilkin
On “Gauguin Tahiti” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, & its successful attempt to dismiss many of the myths concerning Gaugins’s travels to the South Pacific.
Music
New York chronicle
by Jay Nordlinger
On the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, the Royal Concertgebouw at Carnegie Hall & Jean-Yves Thibaudet at Carnegie Hall.
Concert Note
by Patrick J. Smith
On Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera House.
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The media
“Root-causeism” & electability
by James Bowman
On the “po-mo primary” & “the seductive Siren-song” underlying the democratic party’s views on the war against terrorism.
Books
America–c’est moi! Alfred Kazin on American literature
by Hilton Kramer
A review of Alfred Kazin’s America: Critical and Personal Writings, edited by Ted Solotaroff.
As seen on TV
by Mark Bauerlein
A review of The Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom and How Learning Can Be Saved, by Todd Oppenheimer.
Notes & Comments
“Neville again”
by the Editors
On the heinous bombings in Madrid and their despicable consequences.
It’s always worse than you think
by the Editors
On the degradation of high-culture in the UK’s most respectable publications and institutions. Can it get more depressing in the US?
Frederick Morgan, 1922-2004
by the Editors
On the loss of a great friend and contributor to The New Criterion.
The New Criterion on poetry
by the Editors
On this month’s extended poetry issue.