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Author Archives: thuudung
Paul Muldoon: a life in poetry
A teenage Paul Muldoon sought advice from Seamus Heaney. Muldoon sent his poems, and asked what was wrong with them. “Nothing,” Heaney replied… more»
Leon Wieseltier on Big Data
The religion of information. Prophets of big data insist that the human experience can be quantified. But we are ambiguous beings… more»
Jill Lepore, the microhistorian
The genius of Jill Lepore. She’s turned microhistory into an essayistic art. But therein lurk the perils of the quest for perfect readability… more»
Tim O’Reilly, the meme hustler
Beware the siren song of Silicon Valley, where meme-engineers spin alluring concepts that cloak more than they clarify. The problem has a name: Tim O’Reilly… more»
Origins of applause
The origins of applause. It’s a custom as old as man himself, with a history of political intrigue and cultural transformation… more»
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Translating the abyss
Abysses are monstrous, terrifying, and, in literature, ubiquitous. Here they are in Baudelaire, there in Nietzsche, everywhere in Kafka… more»
The hunt for Herman Melville
The Melville biographer Hershel Parker warns that his craft is under attack from “subversive interlopers” – academic critics with their intellectual fads… more»
After God
After atheism. Religion is too important, too interesting, too useful to be left to the religious, says a new crop of nonbelievers… more»
Interview with Renata Adler
“I never attacked anyone weak,” says Renata Adler. “Only bullies, secure in their fiefdoms. Fear didn’t come into it. Maybe it should have”… more»
History of sound and listening
“Listening” has pleasant connotations. “Noise,” not so much. But noise is often the sound of progress, irksome as it is… more»