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Charming Demoiselles
It’s good to see the return of writer/director Whit Stillman. I missed his refreshing take on the world, peopled with earnest, decent, often forlorn characters who parody the culture by way of urbane, stylized discussions. In Damsels in Distress, Stillman again features the upper classes, those most maligned by the yawn-inducing “independent” film establishment that applauds its own supposed bravery by....
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Tebow
When I saw that newly-released Peyton Manning had decided upon the Denver Broncos, I wondered what would happen to Tim Tebow. I didn’t expect the team would keep him, though he’d electrified the franchise, secured many fourth quarter victories, and took them to the playoffs (where he won his first game with an amazing overtime pass, but lost his second in ignominious fashion). That he wound...
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A Brief Philosophy of Art
How should the artist see himself? What is his role in the process? In times past, that was an important aesthetic question. Plato’s dismissive view is well-known, and Aristotle’s rehabilitation of the artist is nearly as well-known. The German Idealists had their say, and the French metaphysicians had theirs. So why not let me, a philosophical hack and poseur, have mine? What I propose to....
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Perchance to Dream
Walking through the cafeteria the other day, I saw a young guy with his head down on a table. His arms were curved about his crown in a perfect “O,” and though it was the middle of the day, and in the midst of a loud and boisterous lunchroom, he heard nothing around him. He was fast asleep, dreaming. All around, people were shouting, laughing, emptying trays into trash cans—cash registers opening....
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Fear and Trembling
Contrary to popular portrayal, angels are said to instill fear and trembling at what they are, not comfort and joy. Similarly, when mere men act in ways that transcend the expected range, we can be unnerved by the display. Riveted, transfixed, awe-struck—yes, but also unsettled. What are we beholding? we ask ourselves, as we gape at the bare-forked creatures who come through hail and brimstone, and yet....
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Current Issue
Issue 72
Memoir by Lauren Winner, Poetry by James Harpur, Art by Guy Chase and Adrian Wiszniewski
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