Two novels in translation and two Rachels (Cusk and Kushner) crack our top 10
Ashley Naftule
ashleynaftule
B-
The memoir arrives one year after the Throbbing Gristle lead singer's death
Ska and punk are tangled together like grapevines. While both genres originated elsewhere—punk in the U.S. and ska…
B+
The mega-corp future that cyberpunk predicted is already here, but instead of fiber-optic mohawks and cybernetic eye…
B+
Early on in the 2020 sort-of documentary Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, an old man coins a rallying cry for generations…
A-
The late Roger Ebert once wrote that “the movies are like a machine that generates empathy.” Great fiction comes off…
A certain amount of escapism through books would have been more than understandable in 2020. (And by “a certain…
B
Apocalypses in fiction tend to be geographically egalitarian. It doesn’t matter if it’s a zombie uprising, an alien…
B+
It’s funny how the time of day can change the meaning of a knock. An unexpected rapping on the door during daylight…
B+
“Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit…” For a certain generation of pop culture junkies, the first image that springs to…
The Maenads were the original fans. The followers of Dionysus in Greek mythology, they were the “raving ones”—a…
It seems every few months on Twitter another “four high school albums” prompt makes the rounds, inspiring…
While her biggest claim to fame remains her colorful fruit headpiece, camp icon Carmen Miranda deserves respect as…
On April 5, 1986, French singer Serge Gainsbourg told Whitney Houston on live TV that he wanted to fuck her. Looking…
One of the best things about old records is the liner notes. Pick up a jazz or pop LP of a certain vintage and…