Genius
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We Can’t All Be Geniuses October 21, 2024
I know I’ve already mentioned Ann Powers’s book, Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell, but it’s on my mind again this week: specifically, her attempt to unpick the use of the word “genius”. She has some really interesting things to say, and I’m n...
The Fantasy World of Ta-Nehisi Coates October 04, 2024
Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of those journalists treated by the left-of-center establishment more like a prophet than a writer. There are few accolades he hasn’t been granted, few prizes he’s yet to win. He’s received a “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur ...
The Madness of 'Megalopolis' October 01, 2024
I attended a very special, and very strange, preview screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis a few days ahead of its official release. Before the film ran, the screening audience was treated to what was surely meant to be a great privilege, a...
The War on Genius July 29, 2024
What is a novel, or any work of art, but the product of its time, of commerce? What is it but another colorful consumer unit, to be slid dutifully on a shelf or hawked through the internet? I’ve been mulling, of late, actions and reactions, the trope...
The Nabokovian Genius of Taylor Swift July 25, 2024
Taylor Swift has quietly created a cultural monopoly. Reissues of her albums dominate the charts. Her concerts are major events. Now the Hachette-owned Headline Publishing Group has announced Invisible Strings, a Swift-themed poetry anthology. Contri...
The Philosophical Genius of P.G. Wodehouse July 23, 2024
Praising P.G. Wodehouse for his humour is rather like praising the Royal Gurkha Rifles for their ability to march and fold socks. Wodehouse is indeed a hilarious writer, but he’s worth reading for more than just the gags. His books transport readers ...
Hari Kunzru’s Escape From the Art Market July 04, 2024
In Honoré de Balzac’s 1831 story “The Unknown Masterpiece,” the young artist Nicolas Poussin presents himself at the studio of Porbus, a seventeenth-century court painter, hoping to inhale the fumes of creative genius. It is a stroke of luck that his...
When Things Could Only Get Better July 04, 2024
When I heard Rishi Sunak was about to call the election, I went online and saw the tragic spectacle unfold in real time. I watched as the heavens opened, and then struggled to hear the Prime Minister’s voice as Steve Bray’s loudspeaker started pumpin...
Dorothy Sayers: A Self Entire July 02, 2024
No doubt it is inconvenient for the writer, but one of the best things that can happen for readers is when a great writer—a truly great writer—is required by circumstances to work in popular genres. These “marketable” books or stories, composed to pu...
