Recent

On Warren Zevon, the "Kurt Vonnegut of Rock Music"

Author C. M. Kushins talks with PopMatters about the complicated legacy of Warren Zevon, from crack-up to recovery and back again, and his research for Nothing's Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon.

Books

'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' Is as Monumental as the Man It Chronicles

Noted historian David W. Blight offers readers the fullest portrait of Frederick Douglass yet in this "biography of a voice".

Books

'All the Lives We Ever Lived' Finds Comfort in Mourning with Virginia Woolf

These days, when personal grief becomes a public performance on social media, it's heartening to have a book such as Katharine Smyth's All the Lives We Ever Lived, wherein deep introspection is given space and literature provides both solace and inspiration.

Books

'The Song Is You' Is the Sinatra Biography That’s Not a Biography

The revised and expanded version of Will Friedwald's acclaimed Sinatra book, The Song Is You, is about the music and nothing but the music.

Books

Edward Gorey, Agent of Chaos

Two recent books on screenwriter, illustrator and author Edward Gorey, Born to Be Posthumous and Gorey's Worlds, are engaging works that show that Gorey's mystique remains safely impenetrable.

Books

On 'Love and Strife', but Mostly the Strife, of Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow has won many literary awards, including the Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award. Yet Zachary Leader's thorough work, The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005, a PopMatters pick, begins with Below asking himself, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?"

Books

Townes Van Zandt: 'Music, Genius, and Rage'

Townes Van Zandt's longtime road manager and producer, Harold F. Eggers, Jr., looks back on road-life with the haunted songwriter. He has more stories than most.

Books

John Berger was a Lifelong Cultural Agitator with a Valuable Point of View

Joshua Sperling's biography of John Berger is more of an art history text that's focused on specific social and political elements as they are connected through Berger's perspective.

Books

'Vice', Dick Cheney, and the Satisfaction of the Deed Itself

Adam McKay's gonzo Dick Cheney biopic satire, Vice, won't be compared to Shakespeare, but it shares the Bard's disinterest in supervillains' motivations.

Film

Why Does Natsume Sōseki Still Resonate with Readers?

Literary scholar John Nathan's biography of Natsume Sōseki puts his great accomplishments -- and many shortcomings -- in superb literary and historical context.

Books

Hayao Miyazaki's Films Help Us See Ourselves "with Eyes Unclouded"

Japanese Studies scholar Susan Napier's Miyazakiworld reveals an animation auteur with an urgent message to convey about our future -- and ourselves.

Books

Jason Reitman's Tabloid Journalism Film About Gary Hart, 'The Front Runner' Is Altman Lite

Funny and thoughtful but not sharp enough, Jason Reitman's satire about Gary Hart's tabloid downfall aims for controlled chaos but settles for conventional finger-wagging.

Film

Band of Brothers: Jason Reitman, Matt Bai, and Jay Carson on 'The Front Runner'

Filmmaker Jason Reitman and co-writers Matt Bai and Jay Carson delve into the band-like creative process behind their thought-provoking political drama, The Front Runner, revolving around Gary Hart's scandalous 1988 presidential campaign.

Film

'Freak Kingdom': On Hunter S. Thompson's Fight Against Fascism

In Freak Kingdom, Timothy Denevi gives a charmingly sensational account of Hunter S. Thompson's life in order to prove his point that Thompson actually conducted himself as quite a serious anti-fascist.

Books

'On Her Shoulders': Awareness of Trauma Is Not Enough

In this interview with Director Alexandria Bombach centered on her recent documentary about Nadia Murad, On Her Shoulders, she reflects on how we process another's trauma, and how we might be moved beyond simply awareness.

Film

All the Right Intentions Can’t Bring 'Boy Erased' to Life

The tragedy of conversion therapy is confronted in Boy Erased, a well-meaning but perfectly conventional message movie.

Film

Pop Ten

MetalMatters: May 2019 - Back to the Basics and Prepare for Takeoff

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

Never Ending Endings in 'The Avengers: Endgame' and 'Game of Thrones'

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Restored the Series to Its Former Glory

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