Matthew Snider

Less Dogma, More Dissent: Paglia on ‘Sex, Gender, Feminism’

Less Dogma, More Dissent: Paglia on ‘Sex, Gender, Feminism’

Contrary to what her critics might have one believe, Camille Paglia demands more, not less, of contemporary feminism.

‘Testosterone Rex’ Delivers an Anticlimactic Attempt to Extinguish Gender Myths

‘Testosterone Rex’ Delivers an Anticlimactic Attempt to Extinguish Gender Myths

Light on science, heavy on smugness, Testosterone Rex, does everyone a disservice.
This New Translation of Yusuf Atılgan’s Work Shows a Mind Unraveling

This New Translation of Yusuf Atılgan’s Work Shows a Mind Unraveling

Motherland Hotel is an astounding work by a master who makes it look easy.
The Translators of ‘Thousand and One Nights’ Were Unquestionably Thieves

The Translators of ‘Thousand and One Nights’ Were Unquestionably Thieves

Marvellous Thieves notes that each interpreter's acts of plagiarism, theft, and recreation are nearly as interesting as the tales themselves.
Glistening Male Bodies in Film: ‘Descended From Hercules’

Glistening Male Bodies in Film: ‘Descended From Hercules’

This is an extensive and thoughtful survey of the peplum that's limited only by its ambition.
The Seductive Brutality of Crossing Borders

The Seductive Brutality of Crossing Borders

The year 2016 has demonstrated that the American imagination could use another dozen novels with the defiant honesty of Norte.
‘Nietzsche’s Journey to Sorrento’: Wherein Nietzsche Finds His Voice

‘Nietzsche’s Journey to Sorrento’: Wherein Nietzsche Finds His Voice

Paolo D'Iorio writes of the costs and rewards of a man in the midst of transformation.
‘A Wild Swan and Other Tales’: A Twist on Fairy Tales for a More Sober Time

‘A Wild Swan and Other Tales’: A Twist on Fairy Tales for a More Sober Time

Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham gives a compelling demonstration of how to reimagine magic while retaining a literary legacy.
The Mystery of ‘All That Man Is’

The Mystery of ‘All That Man Is’

David Szalay's novel preserves the mystery of modern manhood within an anthology of realism.
‘The Angel of History’ Reflects on the Costs of Assimilation

‘The Angel of History’ Reflects on the Costs of Assimilation

The Angel of History is an evocative religious and sexual elegiac with a dark and stirring current of comedy running through it.
On Friedrich Nietzsche’s Early Intellectual, Emotional, and Spiritual Development

On Friedrich Nietzsche’s Early Intellectual, Emotional, and Spiritual Development

The Making of Friedrich Nietzsche is a carefully considered and well-paced biography that knows exactly how much it intends to say and doesn't aspire to take on any more than is necessary.
More Sound and Fury Than Clarity in ‘Against Ambience’

More Sound and Fury Than Clarity in ‘Against Ambience’

While Kim-Cohen's writing can be cynical and unforgiving and uncompromising. If he's right, none of that matters.