The Brooklyn Rail
Critical Perspectives on Art, Politics and Culture
APRIL 2009
Express
What Is to Be Done?
by Paul MattickExpress
It’s hard to imagine a more stunning demonstration of the theoretical bankruptcy of economics as a putative science than the ongoing discussion of the current economic situation.
The Proof of the Honey
by Salwa Al NeimiExpress
Some people conjure spirits. I conjure bodies. I have no knowledge of my soul or of the souls of others. I know only my body and theirs.
The Perils of a Young Fixer in Afghanistan: Ian Olds in conversation with Williams Cole
by Williams ColeExpress
Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi is a new documentary by Ian Olds which tells the tragic story of Ajmal Naqshbandi, a young fixer for foreign journalists in Kabul who ends up apprehended by the Taliban along with an Italian journalist.
Iraq: A Game of Craps
by Michael BuschExpress
Before we use Thomas Ricks’s The Gamble to revisit the now largely forgotten American escalation in Iraq, a few words on the US occupation there between 2003 and 2006 might be helpful, and Ricks himself provides them.
A Monster, a Genius, or Both
by Lester PimentelExpress
Biographies of great novelists often expose the foibles of our literary heroes. They become human in a way that can detract from their genius on the page. By the end of The World is What It Is, Patrick French’s revealing biography of Nobel Prize-winning author V.S. Naipaul, the esteem of even the most ardent fan of Naipaul will be tested.
Children of Genocide
by Elizabeth MonaghanExpress
Philomena sits on a concrete step in a muddy Rwandan backyard. Her daughter, Juliette, no older than fourteen, sits next to her, her arm draped over Philomena’s knee. The girl wears pink flip-flops and a dress patterned of multi-colored daisies.
Notes from Rio
by Theodore HammExpress
I went down to Rio in mid-March with no agenda other than to soak up some sun and sand and to experience that great city for the first time.
