PICTURE IT

From the "one picture is worth a thousands words" department, this one of a chained slave in post-Revolutionary America appeared with Stanley Weintraub's review of two books, "Rough Crossings" and "The Forgotten Fifth," in this morning's Washington Post. The review itself is routine, less interesting than the critique by Brent Staples in The New York Times Book Review.

The Staples piece, focusing solely on "Rough Crossings," is more specific and literary (recalling, for instance, "the contradiction cited by Samuel Johnson, who inquired ... of the Americans in 1775: 'How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?'"), and it has a striking illustration, too, perfectly suited to the review: George Washington ensnared in a bullwhip, but it's not nearly as affecting as that photo.

And from the "while I'm at it" department, my favorite literary critic, Clive James, has a nice long must-read review, also in this morning's NYTBR, about a new anthology, "American Movie Critics." James has little use for auteurist hype, which I happen to agree with (especially when it comes to the usual polishing of the Ford oeuvre), but it's the entertaining pleasure of the writing that makes the piece a must.