[contextly_auto_sidebar id="EiHxpVihevRrdyMUqFrfFwSxjluukyi5"] I'VE long been an admirer of the genre-mashing short story writer Kelly Link, who infuses the literary story with horror and fairy tales; she co-runs an eclectic small publisher near Northampton, Mass. as well. Today Link is in the New York Times Book Review with a By the Book interview in which she talks about her favorite authors … [Read more...]
The Plutocrat’s Art Club
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="jyFHuTfymBp4zjqhRnelFYWTSaIQFC3g"] The Germans may have a word for it -- things that seem inevitable but are stomach-turning nonetheless. That's the way I feel about the fact that the very rich are amassing lavish art collections and finding tax shelters for them. They call these tax shelters "museums," but don't let the rest of us in. It's the latest in the strategy … [Read more...]
Has Architecture Lost Its Connection?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="JXp6XOeglaoCeQ8tXG7WjOAVz5fmoupq"] ARCHITECTURE is a funny field: Much of its most important, most talked-about work is done for a tiny number of clients -- we'll call them rich people -- but the profession has a lingering (and in some cases sincere) social conscience and concern for the broader built environment the rest of us live in. That blend of ambitions has … [Read more...]
Paul Krugman on Amazon
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="EnEg7SR54tQeApaTB0TxyD3jWfVDaZ1e"] Is the online bookseller a monopoly? A monopsony? I'll leave the details to the economists, but will concur with the New York Times columnist -- and the recent New Republic story -- on the company's danger. The most succinct way to phrase it may be the way Paul Krugman opens today's column: "Amazon.com, the giant online retailer, … [Read more...]
Amazon and the New York Times
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="hcxWCofPNmshtu5V4mfeJWMEKeMUb4SZ"] I REMAIN a dedicated fan of the Gray Lady, but its recent pieces looking for some "good news" in the Amazon fight struck me as bit strange. Today I respond in a post for Salon. It begins this way: In the careful-what-you-wish-for department: A bit more than a week ago, the New York Times’ public editor, Margaret Sullivan, urged … [Read more...]
What Do Brunch and Jeff Koons Have in Common?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="R4kldjR8qVAyVN11JBzIOTVFaYGRTE3D"] THE current backlash against mimosa-drenched Sunday meals is not a central concern of this blog. But I cannot resist posting part of a New York Times story (already denounced by some in my circle) which connects the rise of brunch with skyrocketing rents and the rise of the 1 percent. (Both, incidentally, major concerns … [Read more...]
What Killed Adulthood? Pop Culture or Capitalism?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="jery8F5jteMew95L1w4tWKmHZdFvaBDv"] ONE of the smarter back and forths over the last week or so has been the response to A.O. Scott's essay "The Post-Man," on how genuine adulthood has seeped out of American culture. He's taken the usual hits for being a nostalgic, entitled, puritanical white man -- charges I'm sure he could see coming a mile away -- most of which … [Read more...]
The Importance of the Humanities
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="K0EQ32yHOf7wBeZF6STx4dV8MrY6105L"] A GREAT Nicholas Kristof column today gets at the value of the humanities, especially philosophy, in a pragmatic, hyper-digital and neoliberal age. He writes, near the top: I wouldn’t want everybody to be an art or literature major, but the world would be poorer — figuratively, anyway — if we were all coding software or running … [Read more...]
Housing for Artists, Upcoming Doc and What Twain Tells Us
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="hLRQi16APGHGAa7vr6agsGJdgdO8X6ef"] IT’S taken a while, but as rents and real estate prices have surged over the last few years, the issue of living space for artists has started to get the attention it deserves; David Byrne and Patti Smith have helped shine a light on the plight of creative folk in New York. A new story by fiction writer Catherine Lacey highlights … [Read more...]
Artists Struggle For Studio Space
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="npP8u6de6KK3cPDVFRq7dyGjkAQtokuK"] OFTEN I wonder how visual artists -- most of whom are not rich and not famous -- are faring while the global art market booms and auctions hit new heights. Solid data is hard to find, and much of the market is opaque. But an illuminating new story makes clear: Rising rents make it hard for artists in big cities to hold their … [Read more...]