The Hard-Crusted Softy in Winter, Part II
Ten years after Gore Vidal’s death, the one biographer to remain friendly with the prickly master reveals poignant details of his final years
Murder, They Wrote
Killers, poseurs, and arrivistes … criminals with social ambition and a taste for vengeance dominate this month’s new mystery novels
What a Glorious Feeling!
Seventy years after Singin’ in the Rain splashed its way through theaters, it remains perhaps the greatest movie musical ever made
Schools of Thought
Children’s literature has been hit hard by the culture wars. Anthony Horowitz suggests giving in less—and listening to Ricky Gervais more
Portrait Mode
Iké Udé’s carefully staged portraits set contemporary subjects in a world inspired by the drama of Dutch old masters
The Other Other Paris
Still trying to book a summer getaway? Here’s a city you need to discover
Finnish Firecracker
Live from Helsinki: Karita Mattila, diva without borders
The Hard-Crusted Softy in Winter
Ten years after Gore Vidal’s death, the one biographer to remain friendly with the prickly master reveals poignant details of his final years
Charlie Siem
The violin virtuoso and Dior model making classical music cool
La Vie en Azur
A new book celebrates the sun-soaked and star-studded legacy of the French Riviera
A Numbers Game
We associate algebra, geometry, and calculus with practicality and logic. But the origins of math are as mysterious as any scripture
The Big Books of Summer
A smart list of hot titles you won’t want to miss
The Artist’s Gaze
Panned by critics, loved by Jack Nicholson and Madonna, the Scottish artist Jack Vettriano discusses his provocative art, collected in a new show
Beethoven in the Fjord
Norway’s superstar of the keyboard, Leif Ove Andsnes, directs a chamber-music festival in his own backyard
WackyLeaks
“Excerpts” from Ginni Thomas’s e-mails attempting to overturn the 2020 election …
