AFF's Doublethink

The fact that John Updike, who died January 27 at age 76, spent so much of his time reviewing books rather than writing more novels says something about how important he considered literary discussion and debate. We’re likely to see less of both with the announcement that the Washington Post is ceasing publication of its Sunday stand-alone book review section.

A review of the new film Conversations with Other Women.

“I know plenty of people who I wouldn’t ever give away who are actually conservatives but who live in deathly fear, so they’re in the closet. It’s amazing. It’s really astounding. I say, ‘How can you survive?’”

The continuation of the Mark Helprin interview.

We asked some of the smartest young people on the right for summer reading suggestions. What are they hoping to read this summer? And what do they recommend others read?

There are still plenty of serious performers who offer concert-goers more than mere theatrics. Three of them came to the Washington, D.C., area this spring: Peter Serkin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Angela Hewitt.

The mythic alcoholic and mysoginistic persona of poet and novelist Charles Bukowski is captured in Bukowski: Born into This. But what makes the film a success is not its relentless evidence of that myth’s truth. It’s in its hints that the man may have been something more than just the larger than life figure.

Muriel Spark wishes, I think, nothing less for her readers than to leave them off kilter.

In Music from the Inside Out, Daniel Anker conveys his personal devotion to music. In doing so, he’s created an inspired piece of filmmaking. No music-lover should miss it.

A review of Autobahn, a Neil LaBute play now at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Our annual gift guide for all the conservatives and libertarians on your list!

A review of Álex de la Iglesia’s new film, El Crimen Perfecto.

The democratization of book reviewing on Amazon.com has begun to crowd out professional reviewers and change the way we read. Is this a good thing?

What’s right and not so right with Human Events‘ list of the “Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries.”

Ismail Merchant, producer of classy, elegant British period pieces, was the ultimate independent filmmaker.

Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling face trial in the new documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

If consumers of television programs and films had to pay a recycling fee–for recycled shows like The Office–we might not be subject to the dearth of creativity we’re witnessing in Hollywood right now.

Over one third of high school students believe the First Amendment goes “too far” in the rights it secures. But why should they care about freedom, when nobody else does?

Every year there are deserving movies robbed of Oscar nominations. This year, Closer, the best movie of 2004, is at the top of the list.

The definitive gift guide for all the conservatives and libertarians on our lists!

Is 2004 the year the documentary went from film-geek fetish to mainstream marvel, or the year that Americans gave up their imaginations?

Paying for television programming once seemed absurd, now all the good stuff is on cable. Radio is next.

Polymath novelist Julian Barnes’ new short story collection, The Lemon Table, explores the worldly concerns of those close to death

Short fiction appears to be in terminal decline. Most magazines shun it, or use it as marketing fodder to earn subscriptions. In the country that invented the short story, you now have to pay people to read it.

Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies hits the big screen, and his Bright Young Things are still missing their souls.

Aspiring writers once wanted to become literary greats like James Joyce or William Faulkner. Now they want to become screenwriters like Charlie Kaufman or Joe Eszterhas.

Modern women (and modern science) are changing the time-honored traditions of the engagement ring.

A new film makes concrete the still-current plight of Afghan women.

The holidays might have taken a tastelessly consumerist turn a long time ago, but thoughtful gift-giving is still part of a a traditional Christmas.

Loving the rise of the chain bookstore is part of the free market bible, but one can’t help but feel uneasy about their attitude towards book culture.

Are biographies becoming the gossip magazines of a new intellectually pretentious culture?