Critical Eye

Heroes and Villains and Literary Geniuses

By Alexandra Fenwick   Nov 20, 2009 at 11:47 AM

Literary critic and CJR's Ideas + Reviews editor, James Marcus, sat down last night for a discussion with author David... More

Bomb Squad

The explosive rise (and final fizzle) of Ramparts

By Clint Hendler   Nov 12, 2009 at 03:13 PM

A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America | By Peter Richardson |... More

Picture Perfect

A DVD reissue of Scandal Sheet is good news indeed

By Wendell Jamieson   Nov 4, 2009 at 01:27 PM

I don’t know any newspaper people who don’t like a good newspaper movie. I'm not sure why this is so--do... More

Throw the Rascals In!

Joe Flaherty’s classic account of Mailer and Breslin on the hustings

By Jamie Malanowski   Oct 1, 2009 at 11:55 AM

In this season of a perfectly dull mayoral election, and in this year that is the fortieth anniversary not only... More

California Dreaming

An era of “strange quietude” in the Golden State

By Toby Warner   Sep 24, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance | By Kevin Starr | Oxford University Press | 576 pages, $34.95... More

Out of Africa

The raw and redemptive odyssey of a Burundian refugee

By Gregory Beyer   Sep 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM

Strength in What Remains | By Tracy Kidder | Random House | 304 pages, $26 “The world is full of... More

Core Competencies

Alex Jones on why we must maintain the “iron core of news”

By Steve Weinberg   Aug 27, 2009 at 01:54 PM

Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy | By Alex S. Jones | Oxford University Press... More

Asphalt Jungle

A fresh look at a monumental smackdown over urban renewal

By Elinore Longobardi   Aug 19, 2009 at 01:07 PM

Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City | By Anthony... More

“Malaise” Maligned

A look back at Jimmy Carter’s ill-fated speech

By Megan Garber   Jul 30, 2009 at 01:35 PM

'What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?': Jimmy Carter, America's 'Malaise,' and the Speech that Should Have Changed... More

The Art of Listening

Pete Hamill chats about the joys of A.J. Liebling

By James Marcus   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:35 AM

With his phenomenal ear and rococo prose--not to mention the sort of wit that can still leave a reader helpless... More

A Lapdog in Wolffe’s Clothing

One journalist’s fawning account of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign

By James Kirchick   Jul 16, 2009 at 10:35 AM

Renegade: The Making of a President | By Richard Wolffe | Crown | $26, 368 pages Last month, Politico’s Ben... More

Pilgrims or Progress?

A Harper’s editor’s stint as a cultural virologist

By Jane Kim   Jul 2, 2009 at 08:00 AM

And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture | By Bill Wasik | Viking Press |... More

Where Credit Is Due

A Financial Times reporter explores how a JP Morgan invention spurred the financial crisis

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 17, 2009 at 12:12 PM

Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and... More

Hand Crafted

Can a return to manual labor fix our ailing economy?

By Katia Bachko   Jun 10, 2009 at 06:00 AM

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work | By Matthew B. Crawford | The Penguin Press... More

With God On Our Side

Reza Aslan redraws the line in the sand

By Kathy Gilsinan   Jun 3, 2009 at 10:34 AM

How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror By Reza Aslan |... More