A new issue of Quarterly Conversation is out. Tayt Harlin reviews Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector by Benjamin Moser (and more and more). A review of Faulkner and Love by Judith L. Sensibar. Ron Rosenbaum on The Nabokov Code: A first encounter with Laura, his last, unfinished work. An interview with William Trevor. Joyce Carol Oates on the witchcraft of Shirley Jackson. An unlikely candidate for influence: Naked Lunch at 50 years young. From The American Scholar, a review of Ulysses and and Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce’s Masterpiece by Declan Kiberd (and more). A review of Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing by Michael Slater (and more). Why are we still reading Dickens? From The Hindu, the canonisation of writers like Rushdie and Naipaul in the West enables it to think of itself as radical without really being inconvenienced; the real Other remains outside its gaze. A review of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life by Gerald Martin. A review of The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings (and more and more). The Coy Exhibitionist: Jonathan Ames has made a career out of self-exposure — or so he would like you to believe (and more). A review of Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead by Paula Byrne (and more and more). A profile of Douglas Coupland, the writer who sees into the future (and more and more on Generation A). Airplane books, junk literature, and the Western canon: All novels are lies, some lies are better.
From PUP, the introduction to The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900 by Rudi Matthee. From Middle East Report, a special issue on the Islamic Revolution at 30. From ISR, a special section on Iran: Rebellion and Reaction. From NYRB, Roger Cohen on Iran: The tragedy & the future. A review of books on Iran (and more). Should Iran bury or resurrect the Islamic Republic? A review of Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs by Ray Takeyh. Ahmadinejad II: What will the Iranian president's second term look like? Internal combustion: The Iranian regime's biggest threat may come from the inside. The post-election political contest over the future of Iran is reaching a pivotal stage. While protestors take to the streets in Tehran for democracy, another group of Iranians meets in Cairo for the return of monarchy. The making of an Iran policy: Roger Cohen goes inside the Obama administration’s struggle with its biggest diplomatic challenge. Engaging with Iran is like having sex with someone who hates you: Tehran's latest bid to run down the clock. From TNR, why is Obama repeating Bush's Iraq mistakes in Afghanistan? Michael Crowley wants to know. From NYRB, a review of books on the Afghanistan impasse. The war we can’t win: Andrew Bacevich on Afghanistan and the limits of American power. Could Afghanistan become Obama’s Vietnam — or can we bribe our way to victory? Immanuel Wallerstein on U.S. internal politics and its military interventions.
Why it's okay for Hollywood to adapt every franchise on earth: How a cinematic purist learned to stop worrying and love the movie makeover. Hollywood hits the books: Mr. Fox, Sherlock Holmes and a crew of wild things leap to the screen. A review of Firestorm: American Film in the Age of Terrorism by Stephen Prince. Professor Parini Goes to Hollywood: Can this poet find success on the big screen? TV’s next dimension: Why goofy 3-D glasses are in your future. A review of Channeling the Future: Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. From Time, Jay Leno is the future of TV — seriously. Leno may now dominate prime time, but Letterman has triumphed by doing something more interesting: He’s grown up. Does late night TV still matter? With the greatest shake-up in network late-night television since King Carson left his throne, now is a perfect time to ponder where late-night television is today. Cheap and cheerful: American television comedy was supposed to be dead. And now your moment of Zen: An article on the cultural significance of "The Daily Show". Dr. Seuss and the origins of The Simpsons: How many times must Matt Groening have watched The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T? It seems like the lowest of lowbrow TV — and yet. After beginning as a radio program 72 years ago, "Guiding Light," the longest running drama ever on broadcast television, comes to a close. The Dying of the Light: Fear not, serial fans — the format existed before soap operas and isn't going anywhere. Could changes in advertising kill television?: A review of Chaos Scenario by Bob Garfield.
From Vanity Fair, Levi Johnston writes about everyday life at chez Palin. Frank Schaeffer on how the ugly side of Evangelical Christianity is very much to blame for the anti-Obama hyperventilating. The Obama Haters: We still don't understand how fringe conservatism went mainstream. More and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more on Irving Kristol. Bill Moyers interviews Sam Tanenhaus, author of The Death of Conservatism (and more). From Salon, a series on the making of Glenn Beck (and part 2 and part 3). Glenn Beck's Party: The message of the GOP is being delivered by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (and more from City Journal). United States of Paranoia: Phantom menaces populate the imaginations of Americans across the political spectrum, not just those on the populist Right. From TNR, Jonathan Chait is in the middle of nowhere: Splitting a baby is actually a bad thing; a look at the two most distorted words in the political dictionary: "bipartisan" and "centrist"; and left-handed compliment: Why can't liberals accept victory? What happened to populism: Paul Krugman and Thomas Frank, liberal keyboard messiahs, differ in the strength of medicine they offer Barack Obama. Pluralists vs. Technocrats: There is an important divide running through the middle of Democratic policymaking that gets very little attention. From Esquire, an interview with Bill Clinton (and more). A review of True Compass: A Memoir by Edward Kennedy (and more and more and more and more).