By: James Parker

If Queen had not existed, it would by no means have been necessary to invent them. Sweaty old 1973, the year of their debut album (the campily Tolkien-rocking Queen) was also the year of Elton […]

By: Joe Alterio

Her acting career has garnered PARKER POSEY (born 1968) the moniker “Queen of the Indies,” but she deserves an upgrade. In the fantasy life of the young suburban boys who actually grow up to be […]

By: Matthew Battles

As a child, John Carrera was fascinated by the trove of yellowing pages of Webster’s Pictorial Dictionary he found beneath his grandfather’s chair. As a fine-press printer, he has painstakingly brought the book back to […]

By: Joshua Glenn

In a 1945 essay, the French-Jewish author, philosopher, and journalist ALBERT CAMUS (1913-60) asked, “What is a man who revolts?” His answer: “First of all, it’s a man who says no. But if he refuses, […]

By: HILOBROW

Gregory Green’s Book Bomb #8 (1994). From the artist’s gallery’s website: Since the mid-1980’s Gregory Green has created performances and artworks exploring the evolution of empowerment, which consider the use of violence, alternatives to violence […]

By: Peggy Nelson

What do you do when you’re ROBERT MUSIL (1880-1942), when you’ve been nominated for a Nobel prize, when you live in abject poverty because you refuse to compromise, when you’re plagued by the success of […]

By: Joe Alterio

Robot: Chicken, Orchid, Champagne — by Matt Rebholz *** Robots and Monsters, a website that swaps custom-designed cartoons and pop art in exchange for a donation to charity, was field-tested in May 2007 by our […]

By: Jason Grote

Writing in 1949, Philip Rahv divided American literature into volatile, rebellious “redskins” and puritan, effete “palefaces.” Although Rahv was dividing the lowbrow from the high, I would assert that, today, our “redskins” are intellectually restless […]

By: Lynn Peril

Classically chiseled male bodies in sumptuous black and white.

By: Joe Alterio

I lived in California for nearly ten years, and whenever I would take the interminable ride up or down The Five, I would stick my old Nikon F1 out the window and try to play […]

By: Greg Rowland

Spider-Man and Dr. Strange co-creator STEVE DITKO (born 1927) is the third member of the triumvirate of genius that originally conceived the Marvel Universe. Yet while Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reflected aspects of the […]

By: James Parker

In December 1984 a small but memorable press conference was held in an English pub. It had just been announced that Ted Hughes was to be the new Poet Laureate, and a media reception had […]

By: Annie Nocenti

CHARLIE KAUFMAN (born 1958) writes film scripts that zig when you expect a zag. Fantastic notions are met with deadpan nonchalance, creating comedy of simmering delirium. He redefined the screwball comedy as more of a […]