The standard film-noir view of American values as empty and American institutions as hollow may indeed be another strange instance of what happened when European ideas and attitudes were transported to America as a result of the convulsions in Europe.
Read MoreHow could anyone have come up with works of the magnitude of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth in the space of a few seasons writing for the London stage?
Read MoreToday the radicals are the real conservatives, contributing to the perpetuation of our dumbed-down media culture, while the conservatives are the real radicals, offering the great classics of the Western tradition as the most effective means of liberating students from the orthodoxies of our day. Book Review
Read MoreBlake was a bit of a capitalist himself. His capital consisted chiefly of a small printing press, together with supplies of paper and engraving plates, which he and his wife dutifully lugged with them whenever they changed domiciles.
Read MoreHamlet in Purgatory in many respects serves as the culmination of Greenblatt's long-term project as a cultural historian. Book Review
Read MoreShakespeare knew everything. He even knew the law of supply and demand, long before Adam Smith or any modern economist formulated it. Book Review
Read MoreIf you really want to learn something about Shakespeare, go back to the plays. Book Review
Read MoreShakespeare's ability to provoke a variety of thoughtful responses is one measure of his enduring greatness. Book Review
Read MoreHuckleberry Finn shows that a nation devoted to fresh starts will also invite false starts and upstarts. Book Review
Read MoreJonathan Swift was one of the most secretive men who ever lived, the Howard Hughes of 18th-century Britain. Given how well-known his name is today, it comes as a surprise to learn that most of his writings were initially published anonymously. Book Review
Read MoreOrdinary life improves when empire falls. Book Review
Read MoreWriting a biography of Charles Dickens is not an enviable task. It is much like trying to paint a portrait of Rembrandt—the Dutchman already did such a good job himself. Book Review
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