By Molly Fischer 5/15 8:45am

books

Janet Malcolm. (Courtesy The New Yorker)

Not Too Stupid: Reflections on 50 Years of Janet Malcolm’s Fatal Vision

In 2011, Janet Malcolm underwent the literary rite of a Paris Review interview. As part of its tradition, the magazine permits interview subjects to reread and revise their words: they have an impressive degree of control over their self-presentation, which presumably makes the whole exercise more appealing. Often the effect is of a long chat on a porch in the Berkshires between an elder statesman and a respectful apprentice, who nods sagely at the importance of rising early to write.

But most interview subjects have not spent their careers contemplating the treachery of the interview. Most interview subjects have not made their names dissecting flattering self-presentation. Most interview subjects are not Janet Malcolm.

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By Matthew Kassel 5/07 5:00pm

nyoculture

Ava Gardner's posthumous tell-all.

Mind Vacations

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY to start thinking about summer—and how you might spend your leisure time in that season of possibility. There are getaways to plan, gardens to plot, lighter clothes to purchase. But for whiling away the summer hours, whether on the beach, at poolside or on a park bench, nothing beats the pleasure of a good book. The one downside—sifting through the new releases to find something you like—can be a chore, which is why we’ve gone ahead and done that work for you.

Here’s a carefully selected smattering of forthcoming titles we think you’ll enjoy. There are the juicy confessions of Ava Gardner, a literary werewolf novel and a long-awaited family epic from Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini. And for those who want to get a jump on their summer reading, some of these are just out in stores or downloadable to an iPad or Kindle near you. Read More

By Staff 11/16/06 9:31am

The New Yorker Uses the G-Word

Janet Malcolm is one of my idols, I’d read her shopping lists if someone would print them. Her book The Journalist and the Murderer is a cultural landmark, it changed the relationship of journalists and their sources, giving more power to the sources. So when The New Yorker ran her piece on Gertrude Stein Read More

By Mario Naves 11/03/03 12:00am

Painting That’s Alive Today And Makes Its Home in the Past

The first thing you might think upon entering James Graham and Sons’ ground-floor space on Madison Avenue is that the gallery has mounted an overview of an unheralded 19th-century painter, something along the lines of the Walter Gay show seen at the same venue last spring. The pictures of castles, duels, naval battles and soldiers Read More

By Mario Naves 11/03/03 12:00am

Currently Hanging

Painting That’s Alive Today

And Makes Its Home in the PastThe first thing you might think upon entering James Graham and Sons’ ground-floor space on Madison Avenue is that the gallery has mounted an overview of an unheralded 19th-century painter, something along the lines of the Walter Gay show seen at the same venue last Read More

By D.T. Max 12:00am

Book Review

The Crime of Sheila McGough , by Janet Malcolm. Alfred A. Knopf, 164 pages, $22.

Does the law require you to be wary of a man who sends you flowers? Must you ask why when a convicted felon wants to use your bank account to receive a wire transfer? Is giving your fellow man the Read More