It is the easiest of questions, it is the most difficult of questions: “Why are the Jews leaving the Soviet Union?” asks Emil Bezverkhny. He writes throughout the latter half of the 20th century, each chapter in his posthumously published The Penny is Gone a capsule preserving the maddening, almost otherworldly qualities of being a

Everyone loves Julian Barnes. I don’t know of any other novelist who has been praised by both David Bowie and Angela Merkel. He has also been praised by Philip Larkin, Graham Greene, and John Updike, even if Updike referred to him as “an English television critic,” which Barnes was at the time. (Updike was reviewing

It’s easy to start a fight between David Bowie fans: Simply ask them to name his best album. Thanks to Bowie’s rare combination of talent and industriousness, a case could easily be made for at least half a dozen of his 26 studio records, each boasting a unique sound. How can anyone compare The Rise