Follow @yaleSCIbooks When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence he would never have imagined a country where agriculture was not always a respected activity in society. In American Georgics: Writing on Farming, Culture and the Land, editors Edwin C. Hagenstein, Sara M. Gregg, and Brian Donahue explore the history
Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, by curators James Rondeau and Sheena Wagstaff (2012), accompanies an expansive Lichtenstein exhibition currently at the Art Institute of Chicago, later moving to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., then to the Tate Modern in London, and finally to the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
There is no American novel with a success story more contentious than that of Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint. First published in 1969 amid scathing condemnations, it sold over three million copies in its first six years. Even more remarkable is that after four decades, the novel’s commercial and critical success
The Statue of Liberty may be the most recognized symbol in all of American culture. Its form dominates pop culture, portrayed in high profile advertising campaigns and highlighted on tourists’ kitschy tee shirts. But despite the universality of its image, what the icon actually represents remains open to interpretation, changing
Yves Bonnefoy, often acknowledged as France’s greatest contemporary poet, turns 89 today. Earlier this year, the publication of Second Simplicity: New Poetry and Prose, 1991-2011, translated from the French by Hoyt Rogers, exposed Bonnefoy‘s latest writings to an audience of English readers. Included in the volume are two unpublished fantasias
From the popular new series of YouTube vlogs, “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” to the recent rash of Austen-inspired self-help books, Jane Austen mania shows no sign of slowing down in 2012. In Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives, John Sutherland reflects on why Jane continues to
It would be no exaggeration to say that Romanian novelist Norman Manea is one of the most celebrated contemporary Eastern European writers in the Western literary world. His impressive collection of cultural and literary awards currently includes the MacArthur Fellowship (U.S.), the Nonino International Literary Prize (Italy), the Prix Médicis
Proverbs may by nature be short, but they pack an a lot of wisdom in a short space. Test your knowledge of proverbs with our Dictionary of Modern Proverbs quiz. Can you figure out what piece of wisdom is missing? Or when they were first used? You might be surprised
Contemporary curation must again and again situate art exhibition within a global conversation. The Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art exhibition currently at the Seattle Art Museum affords the museum an opportunity to embrace a fresh strategy for staging global art. The curatorial event provides an exchange among a diverse collection
London Olympics 2012: Whose Games Are They Anyway?
Neil Faulkner is the author of A Visitor’s Guide to the Ancient Olympics, now available from Yale University Press. With only 30 days left before the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, we thought to share some insight into the side of the Games you won’t see, even those as
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