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EMAIL: Douglas McLennan, Editor artsbeat@artsjournal.com

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Fascinating Passages from Fascinating Books

'He did not believe that men were born good, and he admitted original perversity as an element to be found in the depths of the purest souls—perversity, that evil counsellor who leads a man on to do what is fatal to himself precisely because it is fatal and for the... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-28
Just because: Connie Boswell appears on The Ed Sullivan Show

Connee Boswell sings “Basin Street Blues,” “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” and “Rockin’ Chair” (with Woody Herman) on a 1950 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Just because: Connie Boswell... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-28
Almanac: Max Beerbohm on mediocrity and genius

“Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs.” Max Beerbohm, “Dan Leno,” Saturday Review (November. 5, 1904) Continue reading Almanac: Max Beerbohm on mediocrity and genius at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-28
Cold Turkey Press: ‘Another Pair of Sonnets’

My sonnets don't usually come in pairs, although looking back on them I can see them being paired sometimes as sequels or cousins. Paradoxically, these two came as a pair because they are so different from each other. The darker mood of the one that came second ("Clocking In") rebukes... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-27
From the Design Department Cutting Edge: Up, Up and Away Off the Page

The designers of The New York Times Magazine are at it again. Do they think edgy makes sense when their design looks like the cover was badly trimmed? Yes, the headline reads "UP, UP AND AWAY FROM IT ALL." But if the rationale for the design was to get so... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-26
Almanac: H.L. Mencken on demagogues

“The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots. The demaslave is one who listens to what these idiots have to say and pretends to believe it himself.” H.L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy Continue reading Almanac: H.L. Mencken on demagogues at... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-25
Good Question: ‘Who’s Your Death Hero?’

Although Albert Camus does not come up in WHO'S YOUR DEATH HERO? — a conversation between the filmmaker Richard Kern and the writer who goes by the name of Supervert — he would be my candidate in answer to the title. Camus's declaration, “I want to keep my lucidity to... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-24
Is this our future?

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review an Irish Repertory Theatre webcast of Geraldine Hughes’ Belfast Blues. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Geraldine Hughes gave a great performance earlier this year in the Irish Repertory Theatre’s webcast of Brian Friel’s “Molly Sweeney,” a “staging” so technically innovative and incontestably superior in... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-24
Almanac: Richard Stark on the cheapness of the rich

“Like all very wealthy women, Alice had strange cold pockets of miserliness.” Richard Stark, Flashfire Continue reading Almanac: Richard Stark on the cheapness of the rich at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-24
Almanac: Richard Stark and the cheapness of the rich

“Like all very wealthy women, Alice had strange cold pockets of miserliness.” Richard Stark, Flashfire Continue reading Almanac: Richard Stark and the cheapness of the rich at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-24
$40-Million Collection-Care Goal: Brooklyn Museum’s 1st Round of Art Sales Under AAMD’s Relaxed Rules

Three months ago, a CultureGrrl tipster wrote to me that the Brooklyn Museum’s board was about to vote on proposed deaccessions of seven works (which he identified by type, but not by specific objects), for a “combined total value of $50 million.” (The tipster never identified himself to me, and... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-09-23
Nailing It

Kayleigh McEnany (aka Baghdad Bob or Comical Ali) and the Clown King do their thing. White House press secretary: “We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here.” Trump predicts number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S.: “Gonna be down to close to zero … We’ve done a very... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-23
An art museum sells its soul

In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I write about the disastrous decision of a small museum in upstate New York to sell its only important painting—and what it means for the future of museum management in America. Is there an alternative? Maybe. Here’s an excerpt. * * * If you want to... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-23
Snapshot: Buddy Rich plays “West Side Story”

Buddy Rich and his big band perform a medley from West Side Story arranged by Bill Reddie on TV in 1969: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: Buddy Rich plays “West... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-23
Almanac: Brian Eno on technology

“When technology makes it perfect, art loses.” Brian Eno (quoted in Wired, January 1999) Continue reading Almanac: Brian Eno on technology at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-23
David/Valda Over the Years

I sit at my laptop, looking out the window into a green world far from New York City. The screen announces “The Philadelphia Matter 1972/2020,” and glimpsed behind it is the large, alarmed face of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content,... Read more

Source: Dancebeat Published on: 2020-09-22
Almanac: Richard Stark on bureaucrats

“He was a bureaucrat, he lied effortlessly.” Richard Stark, Backflash Continue reading Almanac: Richard Stark on bureaucrats at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-09-22
The Battle Over the Supreme Court

Getting down to brass tacks . . . and brass knuckles.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-21
Cold Turkey Press: ‘A Pair of Sonnets’

'Both belong to a cycle of nine, mostly written during my stay in the rural Connecticut countryside to escape the Covid-19 pandemic during the Spring and Summer of 2020. Both are addressed to writers I admire. “Last Breath” begins the cycle. It was written, while remembering my late friend Carl... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-21
‘Notorious’ Doesn’t Begin to Describe Her

'Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to the Supreme Court not just as another federal judge. She reflected women's emergence as fully equal members of American society in the late 20th century.' — Jess Bravin, Supreme Court Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-09-19