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Art: A New History

From the March 2004 Print Edition

Yes, it is possible to write a single-volume general history of art, if you narrow the definition and focus on your own enthusiasms. Paul Johnson is best known for his large-scale histories, written in the Burkean tradition of moralizing conservatism. He is also, however, a serious painter himself, . . . . Continue Reading »

Daemonomania

From the March 2001 Print Edition

This book is the third of the projected four in John Crowley’s major novelistic treatment of gnosticism and hermeticism. As in the two prior books, Aegypt (1987) and Love and Sleep (1994), Daemonomania is held together, rather loosely, through the character of Pierce Moffet, a young historian . . . . Continue Reading »

The Archetypes in the Machine

From the May 1999 Print Edition

TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information by erik davis. harmony. 368 pp. $25.Early on in this fascinating survey of the spiritual dimension of cyberculture, Erik Davis observes that “the spiritual imagination seizes information technology for its own purposes.” The . . . . Continue Reading »

"Intelligent Television"

From the January 1998 Print Edition

This season’s most controversial new program, Nothing Sacred, is about everyday life at an urban Catholic parish. At any rate, it is about everyday life as refracted through the multi-layered narrative techniques used in ER and its progeny: handheld cameras, several subplots running at once, and . . . . Continue Reading »

After Darwin

From the June/July 1995 Print Edition

The ice is beginning to crack in another section of the cold, hard surface of modernity. The part of the frozen lake that is breaking up this time is Darwinism, or at least Darwinism as a worldview with implications for culture and social policy. And as with the breaking up of Marxism and . . . . Continue Reading »