Category Archives: Articles of Note

Anton Chekhov, commitment-phobe. He loved women, women loved him. But sooner or later, they faced the Chekhovian Chill… more»

Heil Heidegger! He embraced Nazism and dumped his Jewish lover, Hannah Arendt. So why did she help rehabilitate his reputation after the war?… more»

Mo Yan isn’t a dissident or an apologist. He is an individualist. “A great writer has to be like a whale, breathing steadily alone in the depths of the sea”… more»

The idea that humans are by nature free is persistent, powerful, and, says John Gray, “one of the most harmful fictions that’s ever been promoted”… more»

“What sort of person goes around saying that mass murder has a good side?” asks Ian Morris. “The sort of person who’s been surprised by his research”… more»

Why cursive? Done well, it’s the pinnacle of elegant handwriting, a mark of sophistication. Too bad it’s rarely done well anymore… more»

The American character was forged by barbarism, torture, murder, and massacre. Bernard Bailyn is ankle-deep in the bloody details … more»

There was a time when college presidents did more than raise funds. They expressed views – resolute, edgy – about contentious issues… more»

Gunther von Hagens, the man behind “Body Worlds,” now finds that his own body is failing him. Dr. Death contemplates his own mortality… more»

Virginia Woolf’s Orlando – all sex changes, cross-dressing, transgressive desire – is the most joyful of her books. It also liberated her prose style… more»