Half a century ago, the Hall of New York State Environment in the American Museum of Natural History was not only the future of museum design, but also, one man hoped, the future of democracy itself.
Story
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Narcissiana: On Collecting
An entomologist reflects on fly-hunting, an outhouse of distinguished provenance, and the narcissism of collectors.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story, Uncategorized
Kidnapping a Nazi General: Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Perfect Heist
Travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor recalls his most dangerous journey.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
The Story of Vicente, Who Murdered His Mother, His Father, and His Sister
What’s one more crime in the murder capital of the world?
Posted inNonfiction, Story, Uncategorized
The Art of Escape
What do we gain from giving inmates access to video games?
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
The Biblical Rheology of Deep-Dish Pizza
A visit to Illinois—home to snow, slaughterhouse romance, and a fraught geology masquerading as pizza—courtesy of Matthew Gavin Frank’s brilliant new book.
Posted inFiction, First Chapters, Story
An Ode to du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca,’ by Rachel Pastan
“Sometimes a book that is wonderful and well-told and riveting is overlooked. I believe this is the case with Rachel Pastan’s Alena.”
Posted inNonfiction, Story
What It’s Like to Fly Into a Thunderstorm
The art and science of cloud seeding, from the pilots who fly directly into storms to help save farmers’ crops.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
How the Emperor Became Human (and MacArthur Became Divine)
The end of divine rule in postwar Japan, and the absolute power of General MacArthur.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
By the Reflection of What Is
On the aesthetics, performance, and “majestic wrath” of Frederick Douglass, the most-photographed American of the nineteenth century.