“Fair or not, it is a commonly held opinion in publishing circles that Talese’s career can be pretty much divided into pre- and post-Thy Neighbor’s Wife – that the writer and his gift never fully recovered from the shock waves. […] ‘[My] shrink was a very nice guy. He liked the book. But he said, ‘What you did was commit literary suicide.'”
Tag: 04.26.09
Jewish Groups Protest Antwerp Samson and Delilah
“Prominent Belgian Jews have harshly criticized the Flanders Opera in Antwerp for staging what they regard as an anti-Israeli, political event disguised as a premiere.” The production of Saint-Saëns’s Samson and Delilah, directed by two Israelis, puts the Philistines in Western garb while dressing Samson and the Israelites as Arabs.
Pete Seeger, ‘America’s Most Celebrated Anti-Celebrity’
“[H]e has always resisted stardom, preferring to be a conduit, a curator, an organizer, and a collaborator. It was almost a blessing, then, that on the brink of serious commercial success, Seeger was forced to drop off the map: He was accused of being a Communist, then blackballed after his politely defiant testimony in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee.”
Ballet Arkansas Returns To Pro Status
“It has been about a dozen years since Ballet Arkansas fielded a professional company. … Now [the company] says it’s back on its feet, creating a new six-member professional company that will form the core of the company’s performing, teaching and community outreach activities.”
Turners, In China, Could Leave British On Hook For Millions
“The decision to send more than a hundred paintings by the English Romantic artist J M W Turner to be exhibited in Beijing … was a hugely symbolic move,” but it’s “looking limp” already. “The Foreign Office had to make an emergency request to the Treasury for permission to underwrite the near-priceless collection against loss or damage … when the Chinese made it clear they would not accept any financial responsibility for the paintings.”
T.C. Boyle Et Al On The Reasons We Read
“We read to free ourselves from the grind and the misery and big ticking time-bomb questions of life. We read for the same reason we walk alone in the woods or squeeze our ears between headphones. We all need contemplative time, time away, time in another world altogether. For me, that happens when I pick up a good book — or, for that matter, a good newspaper.”
Why Are Theatre Audiences Behaving Badly?
Oafish behavior in theaters seems to be on the rise. And it’s not just that cellphones are ringing. It’s that people are answering them — and conducting vital conversations. Apparently, “What are you doing?” is the kind of universal question that just can’t wait until intermission for an answer.
Using Science To Reinterpret Art
David Stork “is a physicist, and he’s used modernoptical science and a good bit of computing power to make a virtual, 3-D copy of the world that Vermeer gave us in two dimensions in about 1665. His techniques do for art historians, he says, ‘just what a microscope does for biologists. We can now reveal things in art that we didn’t see before’.”
MPAA Finds Its Budget, Activities Cut Back By Movie Industry
“Like a director who has just been told that his ambitious movie project must be scaled back, the Hollywood trade association recently took a big hit when its member studios cut as much as 20%, or about $20 million, from its budget, leading to staff layoffs in Los Angeles and Washington.”
When The Mona Lisa Was Stolen
“On the morning of Aug. 21, 1911, Mona Lisa — arguably the world’s most famous pictures — was stolen from the Louvre. Who took her, how and why, is all part of the story told in two new books this spring.”