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Franz Nicolay’s new book, “Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music,” details the lives of working musicians, especially those far from the spotlight: background vocalists hired for uncredited recording sessions, rhythm guitarists playing on freelance contracts.
Franz Nicolay’s new book, “Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music,” details the lives of working musicians, especially those far from the spotlight: background vocalists hired for uncredited recording sessions, rhythm guitarists playing on freelance contracts. These musicians, Nicolay argues, were the original freelancers making do. Now life is different for working musicians: there's probably never been a better time to share a song you’ve made, and yet it’s harder than ever to get paid for it. Read Hsu's review of the book, which collects stories about how musicians who have played alongside the likes of David Bowie or Madonna simply get
“Practical Magic”: Bringing Jimmy Angelov, your abusive dead boyfriend, back to life. *FAIRY X-CICO.
“Practical Magic”: Bringing Jimmy Angelov, your abusive dead boyfriend, back to life.
By the time the photographer Bob Mizer died, in 1992, at the age of 70, he had produced more than a million negatives. “He has been called a forerunner of Robert Mapplethorpe, with his high-contrast, often black-and-white renderings of the body’s architecture,” Daniel Wenger writes. “But there’s just as much reason to consider Mizer the gay Hugh Hefner—a tireless collector of physical specimens.” See Mizer’s photos.
By the time the photographer Bob Mizer died, in 1992, at the age of 70, he had produced more than a million negatives. “He has been called a forerunner of Robert Mapplethorpe, with his high-contrast, often black-and-white renderings of the body’s architecture,” Daniel Wenger writes. “But there’s just as much reason to consider Mizer the gay Hugh Hefner—a tireless collector of physical specimens.” See Mizer’s photos.
Only an amateur sets a spooky story at midnight. To demonstrate your writerly expertise, let the action unfold on a sunny summer morning—in a suburban kitchen in Connecticut, no less. That’s the strategy deployed by Stephen King in “Harvey’s Dream,” an unsettling domestic vignette from 2003.
Only an amateur sets a spooky story at midnight. To demonstrate your writerly expertise, let the action unfold on a sunny summer morning—in a suburban kitchen in Connecticut, no less. That’s the strategy deployed by Stephen King in “Harvey’s Dream,” an unsettling domestic vignette from 2003. For Janet, a wife and mother of three adult daughters, fear these days takes the form of “Alzheimer’s tales,” gossip about “who can no longer recognize his wife, who can no longer remember the names of her children.” Janet is startled when her 60-year-old husband, the titular Harvey, suddenly appears at the table for breakfast, and her anxiety slowly intensifies as he recalls a vision from the night before. Is Harvey’s memory actually a premonition? Is Janet experiencing déja vù? And what’s going on with the dent in the neighbor’s car? King’s story will haunt you, ever so pleasurably, as you gear up for Halloween.
“Frankenstein” is, by almost all accounts, the movie Guillermo del Toro was born to make, Justin Chang writes. But was he born to make it for Netflix? Read Chang’s review of the latest reanimation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale.
“Frankenstein” is, by almost all accounts, the movie Guillermo del Toro was born to make, Justin Chang writes. But was he born to make it for Netflix? Read Chang’s review of the latest reanimation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale.
Something’s going on with our monsters. They used to feast on humans with abandon, burn our villages, prowl the margins of the map; now they’re seeking therapy. The fangs are still there, but they’re clenched in pain.
Something’s going on with our monsters. They used to feast on humans with abandon, burn our villages, prowl the margins of the map; now they’re seeking therapy. The fangs are still there, but they’re clenched in pain. Killing sprees have become cries for help; horns and scales are mere markers of identity. These creatures aren’t out to destroy the world; they’re just trying to find their place in it. The misunderstood monster, once an occasional changeup, is now the default. Vampires and werewolves are heartthrobs (“Twilight,” “Teen Wolf”). Evil witches have tragic backstories (“Wicked,” “Maleficent”). Alien parasites (“Venom,” “Alien: Earth”) and notorious villains (“Cruella,” “Joker”) have their redeeming qualities. Even Frankenstein’s creature—most recently reanimated in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”—has never been so soulful, so desperate to be understood. “Our appetite for relatable monsters—call it the sympathetic turn—is a profound reorientation, if you take the long...
Claire-Louise Bennett’s novels “are defined by the turgid, relentless, and spectacular movements of a self-centered and hyper-attuned mind,” Lillian writes. Read her review of Bennett’s latest book.
Claire-Louise Bennett’s novels “are defined by the turgid, relentless, and spectacular movements of a self-centered and hyper-attuned mind,” Lillian writes. Read her review of Bennett’s latest boo
In the past few decades, monsters have gone from menaces to misfits. Why do we feel the need to humanize them?
In the past few decades, monsters have gone from menaces to misfits. Why do we feel the need to humanize them?