Monthly Archives: January 2011

In a moment when the world’s eyes are fixed on Egypt, what does a book about Iran have to teach us about politics, media, and representation of revolution? Marjane Satrapi’s celebrated graphic memoir Persepolis tells the story of the author’s … Continue reading →

  Nominated for an Academy Award in the category of “Best Documentary,” Exit through the Gift Shop purports to tell the story of Banksy, the well-known British King of Street Art.  We’re told right from the start that this is … Continue reading →

            So, do we want to move back to the suburbs or not?  Because I’ve been getting mixed signals lately, and I’m trying to think through what might or might not be the opening salvo … Continue reading →

It’s inevitable.  Come September, we will be awash in a national project of stock-taking–a look back at the previous ten years on the anniversary of the September attacks of 9/11/2001.  It seems useful to think about what will be the … Continue reading →

A few months back, I got a chance to exchange emails with Wells Tower.  Below, find answers to some of my questions in full.  Author of the collection Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, and recipient of a 2010-2011 New York Public … Continue reading →

While trying to wrap one’s head around the mindbending legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, it is important to remember black writers and artists who fit outside the dominant and often patronizing paradigms of black cultural production inculcated during things … Continue reading →

The Bus Driver: Hedi Kaddour What has gotten into the bus driver Who has left his bus, who has sat down On a curb on the Place de l’Opera Where he slips into the ease of being Nothing more than … Continue reading →

Last October, Mark Greif published an appraisal of hipster culture in New York Magazine.  Greif is one of the founders of the supposedly-annoying magazine and online journal N+1.  I don’t know enough about it to say whether I like the … Continue reading →

In an effort to make up for more than a few literary and personal-life-ish oversights, I finally read The Bell Jar this week.  From there, I turned back to some of the more famous poems in Ariel, making what I … Continue reading →

We need more movies like Claire Denis’s 35 Rhums.  Beautiful in its composition, and subtle in the exploration of its themes, the film takes us on a ride (literally–we are moved around the city and banlieue-scapes of Paris in trains, … Continue reading →