The gothic is not a genre: it cannot be concocted out of an approved list of motifs. It is a sensation, like hunger or desire; and, like hunger or desire, you may be hard-pressed to describe it, but you’ll know it when you feel it. | Continue reading
Ugly fashion is a mirror; it reveals the repulsive nature of our consumerist desires. All ugly fashion is political, but also, all fashion is ugly if you look at it through a politicized lens. | Continue reading
Southern and William S. Burroughs covering the National Democratic Convention in Chicago for Esquire, 1968. Terry Southern was born in 1924 in Alvarado, Texas, the son of a pharmacist and a dressmaker. He was drafted into the army during World War II and studied a … | Continue reading
Hilma af Klint’s strange spiritual works predate those of any other abstract painter by several years. Long unknown, she is now the subject of a retrospective at the Guggenheim. | Continue reading
As one might expect, the leading critic of the twentieth century had some very clear ideas about what he liked and what he did not. | Continue reading
A London exhibition looks at the art that came out of the 20th century’s most tumultuous relationships. But is it only within the context of romantic unrest that the best art can be made? | Continue reading
Courtesy of Philip Roth I met Philip Roth after I had published a short book about his work for the Methuen Contemporary Writers Series. He read the book and wrote me a generous letter. After our first meeting, he sent me the fourth draft of The Anatomy Lesson, which we … | Continue reading
One of Tom Wolfe’s favorite restaurants in New York City is the Isle of Capri on the East Side, specializing, as one might expect, in Italian cuisine; indeed, the menu does not condescend to non-Italian speaking customers: an extensive list of choices is not identifie … | Continue reading