Arts
-
A Novel Traces the Many Lives of a 19th-Century Romantic
William Boyd’s new book follows one man from childhood to death, and the globe-spanning adventures in between.
-
A Rollicking Tragicomic Tale of Unending Family Drama
In Paul Murray’s new novel, “The Bee Sting,” an Irish family faces economic ruin after the 2008 financial crash. And that’s just the start of their troubles.
-
The Artist and Mystic Who Collected the World
Harry Smith lived many lives. “Cosmic Scholar,” a new biography, details his earthly ones.
-
Unusual Suspects
Every child is a detective. It comes with the territory. Childhood is a constant state of trying to unravel the mysteries of the world, while being thwarted at every turn. Adults stop talking when you enter the room. They use coded language. They lie ...
-
Purging Books, Making Art and Ruling Chicago
An editor recommends two escapist biographies.
-
This Isn’t Barbie’s First Time Onscreen: She’s Been a Movie Star for Decades
Before Margot Robbie’s live-action take on the doll, Mattel put out more than a dozen animated films that have an avid following, even now.
-
‘Big Brother’ Contestant Is Expelled for Using Racial Slur
“Well, I’m in trouble now,” Luke Valentine said after using a slur for Black people in a conversation on the reality show.
-
‘Billions’ Season 7 Premiere Recap: Axe Is Back
A certain redheaded maniac returns to the scene for the series’s concluding season. Let the final showdowns begin.
-
An Eccentric Victorian, His Book and the Giant Pink Pastry of a House He Inspired
Has any man in history loved anything as much as Orson Squire Fowler loved the octagon? Fowler, born in Cohocton, N.Y., in 1809, published a book in 1848 arguing that all houses should be eight-sided. He influenced a (failed) utopian community in ...
-
Discovering the Secrets of the Gilder Center
A sculpture that could be Banksy’s, an astonishing vein of rock crystal, and Nabokov’s butterfly specimens — they are all found here.