The Power of Ornament
“The Clamor of Ornament” is a summer spree of a show. It intrigues. It delights. At times it thrills. But it doesn’t ever add up. And...
“The Clamor of Ornament” is a summer spree of a show. It intrigues. It delights. At times it thrills. But it doesn’t ever add up. And...
In January 1832 a New Year’s gift arrived at the home of Alexander Pushkin. The parcel had been sent by a close friend, the art collector...
in blossom. On thekitchen table now.Taller than me.Why do I feel ashamed.In my warm vest and winter coat.In tears.Hands empty at my side. What are youfor....
I never read John O’Hara’s stories, but having read themNow they all seem pretty much alike. There’s a lot ofBackground and a few remarks before not...
Andrew Holleran’s novels are so gloomily personal that you can’t help worrying about him in the long gaps between them and wondering, since he’s now nearly...
When European commentators in the 1830s admired the brilliantly colored, life-size prints in John James Audubon’s The Birds of America, they found the backgrounds almost as...
We leave town on and offand off and on. The plantsseem hardier for it, as if they tooneeded space. The compulsoriness ofour uninterrupted company sucksthe air...
Fascination with actors shows no sign of abating. The public still, it seems, longs to know, as a journalist put it to Alec Guinness on his...
Several decades ago, when I first moved to New York City, I answered an ad to be a personal assistant to a writer. I imagined myself...
Every great city is a constant act of reinvention. Fashionable new structures rise over the wreckage of unfashionable older ones. Neighborhoods change character and function. Populations...