death

Ian Winwood’s ‘Bodies’ Laments Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Contractual Terms

Ian Winwood’s ‘Bodies’ Laments Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Contractual Terms

In Bodies: Life and Death in Music, critic Ian Winwood chronicles the wreckage of a reckless industry and wonders if there is another way.

‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ Can Help Children Cope with COVID-era Death

‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ Can Help Children Cope with COVID-era Death

As the COVID-19 pandemic upends our families, communities, and way of life, children, especially, struggle with loss. Rachel Shukert's Netflix series, The Baby-Sitters Club can help.

‘I Am, I Am, I Am’ Is a Celebration of Life in the Midst of (Near) Death

‘I Am, I Am, I Am’ Is a Celebration of Life in the Midst of (Near) Death

Maggie O'Farrell's I Am, I Am, I Am is a unique twist on the memoir, framed by 17 stories of harrowing near-misses.

The End of Endings: How ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ and Don DeLillo’s ‘Zero K’ Explain the Current State of Storytelling

The End of Endings: How ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ and Don DeLillo’s ‘Zero K’ Explain the Current State of Storytelling

Somehow, without realizing it, for both DeLillo and Rowling, death, the end of the world, and endings themselves are best emblematized by a dysfunctional father/son relationship.

The End of Endings; or, Why Won’t Anyone Stay Dead?

The End of Endings; or, Why Won’t Anyone Stay Dead?

What does it mean when our stories and our characters, unlike our lives, refuse to come to an end?

Probing the Unfathomable in Samantha Hunt’s ‘The Dark Dark’

Probing the Unfathomable in Samantha Hunt’s ‘The Dark Dark’

Hunt turns the domestic inside out to find the supernatural lurking within.

‘Rebellious Mourning’ Explores Getting Through the Darkness to the Other Side

‘Rebellious Mourning’ Explores Getting Through the Darkness to the Other Side

Those on the journey -- from initial mourning to grieving (finite or long-term) -- must have a guide.

‘What Remains of Edith Finch’ Is What Remains of Anyone

Madonna Isn’t That Interesting, But Alina Simone Is

Madonna Isn’t That Interesting, But Alina Simone Is

Madonnaland is not the end-cap of Simone's existential musings; it's an intense jewel in the already sparkly crown of a consistently perceptive critic.
Donald Hall’s ‘Essays After Eighty’ Is an Unsparing Look at Extreme Old Age

Donald Hall’s ‘Essays After Eighty’ Is an Unsparing Look at Extreme Old Age

To presume to review works of this level is farcical; we can only be overjoyed by their continued existence.
Obituary: Inked in Blood

Obituary: Inked in Blood

On their ninth album, Obituary continue to deliver ash-blackened riffage and unintelligible, swamp-creature squeals straight from the bile sac.
Ambition Is the Last Refuge of the Failure

Ambition Is the Last Refuge of the Failure

Sound Affects examines the recent trend of musical acts gaining popularity from word-of-mouth documentaries, using the cases of Death, Big Star, Anvil, and Rodriguez.