“MLK/FBI” and “Her Socialist Smile” Desanitize Two Radical Icons
Eileen G’Sell compares two documentaries about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Helen Keller, both of whom had radical politics that have been whitewashed....
Harlem’s Hero Revisited
Peniel E. Joseph reviews the new biography of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne, "The Dead Are Arising."...
Our Man in the Stacks
A new biography of Graham Greene explores the author’s lifelong bibliomania....
A Man and His Persona: On “Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise”
A revealing biography of an iconic Hollywood star....
The Other Mr. Met
Bob Blaisdell reviews a new biography of the late, great Tom Terrific....
The Future Does Not Simplify the Past: On Nicholas McDowell’s “Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton”
A. M. Juster admires the erudition and judiciousness of “Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton” by Nicholas McDowell....
American Intimacy: On Gustavus Stadler’s “Woody Guthrie: An Intimate Life”
Robert Ryan journeys through Gustavus Stadler’s biography on musician and activist Woody Guthrie....
The Carpenter-President: On Ben Bland’s “Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia”
A mini-biography of Indonesia’s president is also a snapshot of a country in transition....
The Milestones of Milestone
A new biography of an important director of the studio era....
Downsizing Shinzō Abe
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe built an image of a creative disruptor. He disrupted a lot, but he didn’t create much....
Free Yet Flawed: On Sherry L. Smith’s “Bohemians West”
Elaine Elinson reviews “Bohemians West: Free Love, Family and Radicals in Twentieth Century America,” the new dual biography by Sherry L. Smith....
What Should I Do with Such a Man?: On “Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture”
A new biography does the seemingly impossible: it casts new light on the much-studied founding father of Haiti....
