Culture and Arts

Half a century later, my husband and I decided to visit the country we had so long ago feared. When I told our friends that we were going to Vietnam I could see the question in their eyes. Why, of all places, did we want to go there? They had painful memories, too. And to be honest, I was concerned about how Americans would be viewed all these years later. more »

Cleopatra: A Life — In the end, we must ask ourselves if Stacy Schiff, one of the most gifted American biographers currently writing, has successfully peeled away two millennia of myth and propaganda or, rather, given us a new myth, a Cleopatra who fits modern, Western feminist thinking. In the Pursuit of Happiness — To call Maria Kalman's work idiosyncratic isn’t nearly powerful enough to describe what she has produced. It is an explosion of such brilliance that one scarcely knows where to start more »

I am seeking a new mother or father — preferably one who hosts a popular TV show (think Oprah … any of the ladies on The View … Regis before he leaves) on which he or she can plug my newest book. You know what I mean more »

For centuries, people have turned to private journals to document their days, sort out creative problems, help them through crises, comfort them in solitude or pain, or preserve their stories for the future. "The museum is noted for its holdings of manuscripts, sketches, letters, drawings, and other items that speak to the creative mind at work" more »