It’s Complicated
A new film re-examines Tolstoy’s marriage—a subject that has inspired more than a century of commentary, from dueling novellas to literary mock trials
Last Laugh
From the National Theatre, London, a rare revival of George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Stratagem
Staff Picks
Don’t miss profiles of 31 little-known New Yorkers; the story of how Sesame Street was adapted for Russian TV; and a cookbook from the Via Carota chefs
Murder, They Wrote
As the holiday season approaches, gifts for mystery book–lovers of every type
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gainsbourged
From the perils of aging to the joys of parenthood—and the undertow of depression—the French singer and actress is now happily looking ahead
Hot Topic
Ever since Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson, there has been speculation about their relationship. A new book attempts to set the record straight
Leave the Gun, Take the Cocktail
In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, a maître d’hôtel for Brooklyn’s River Café recalls getting on the wrong side of a mobster from the Gotti crime family—and how he lived to tell the tale
A Mania for Egyptomania
Early next month, the “Magnificent Jewels” sale at Sotheby’s New York will include nearly a dozen superb pieces of Egyptian Revival jewelry
A Feast for the Ears
This week’s podcast has grifters, N.B.A. stars, fancy restaurants, angry mobsters, Russian dissidents, and more!
Packages and Kings
How, amid the wreckage of Heaven’s Gate, a couple of young agents rebuilt the movie business in their own image
All Roads Lead to Paolo Di Paolo
Ahead of a new movie by Bruce Weber on the forgotten photographer and chronicler of postwar Italy, we collect some of his most memorable pictures
Yabba Dabba Doo!
With two sellout world tours and 430 million downloads, Britain’s most successful comedy podcast, My Dad Wrote a Porno, has finally reached its climax
Otello in Athens
Robert Wilson tackles Verdi in the birthplace of tragedy
What Makes a Neighborhood?
Debbie Harry, Woody Allen, Cat Marnell, Ian Schrager, Diane von Furstenberg, and others weigh in
The Downtown Set
A list of the 50 young New Yorkers who are remaking Lower Manhattan in their own image
Metaphysical Graffiti
For the last decade, Blake Kunin has photographed members of the city’s prolific tag crews at work. His pictures memorialize their conquests—and a city whose street-art scene lives on
