From Eurozine, Slovenian novelists are finding highly original ways to record the experience of transitional society, writes poet and critic Ales Steger. While male novelists take a hyper-realist, socially critical approach, their equally successful female counterparts are creating fictions only loosely connected to contemporary time and space. Is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie the heir to Nigerian literature as traced from Olaudah Equiano through Christopher Okigbo, Chinua Achebe, and Wole Soyinka? From TLS, South Africa's Ripper pimp? A review of The Fox and the Flies: The world of Joseph Silver - racketeer and psychopath by Charles van Onselen; and Borges finds his Boswell: A review of Borges by Adolfo Bioy Casares.
From Prospect, the problem with assessing much modern art is that it's hard to tell the difference between a banal work and one whose theme is banality. So, how might we make a case against Damien Hirst? A review of Beyond Belief. From Newsweek, which is the most influential work of art of the last 100 years? A review of Stealing the Scream: The Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece by Edward Dolnick. A review of Francis Bacon in the 1950s by Michael Peppiatt.
Writing on the Wall: The Graffiti Archaeology Project challenges the definition of archaeology. The maxim of beauty being in the eye of the beholder is no more true than in people's estimations of modern buildings. BBC Magazine takes some of Britain's most controversial buildings to task. Building Democracy: A review of Architecture of Democracy: American Architecture and the Legacy of the Revolution by Allan Greenberg. Builder in Chief: FDR shaped the Pentagon. Why haven't more presidents taken an interest in architecture?
A review Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song by Ted Anthony. Bruceville is New Jersey, as it can be reconstructed out of Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics. Radio Days: Even college radio stations are subject to corporate pressures and playlists.
From Time, a look at the life and work of movie critic Roger Ebert. Why did the hot-shot film producer call upon the humble novelist? Find out in this short story by Woody Allen. A review of Hollywood and the Mob: Movies, Mafia, Sex & Death by Tim Adler. Why should cinemagoers have to endure the narcissistic display of endless opening credits? They're distracting, artistically unacceptable mood-killers. From Slate, a series on summer movies, including The Original Tarantino: How Sergio Leone ushered in our borderless pop culture; The Surf Also Rises: How macho movies get misread as homoerotic; Leisure and Innocence: The eternal appeal of the stoner movie; and make it a large for a quarter more? A short history of movie theater concession stands.
