Matthew Westphal – Page 1939 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Where Do I Start With Patrick Modiano, The New Nobel Laureate?

“You might have experienced Modiano’s work without realizing it: He co-wrote the scripts for Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien (1974) and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Bon Voyage (2003). But Modiano’s novels are worth reading as well: subtle, rhythmic, and hypnotic investigations into the self and its memory – the perfect thing for the mournful indoor months.”

Nonfiction Writing Deserves A Nobel Every Once In A While, Too

Philip Gourevitch: “It has been more than a half century since any such recognition – a half century that has seen an explosion of great documentary writing in all forms and lengths and styles, and yet there is a kind of lingering snobbery in the literary world that wants to exclude nonfiction from the classification of literature – to suggest that somehow it lacks artistry, or imagination, or invention by comparison to fiction.”

NYC Photo Exhibition Vandalized, Curator Attacked

“Three individuals were involved in an attack on an exhibition in Chelsea … in which photographs were defaced, neo-Nazi leaflets dispersed, and a curator assaulted with pepper spray. The assailants objected to the Ukraine-focused section of a photojournalistic show on recent unrest in that country and Syria called Material Evidence.”

Protest Art Pops Up On The Streets Of Hong Kong

“Among the many more obvious side-effects of the protests – the traffic, the lost workdays – there has been an outpouring of communal creativity.” The number-one motif? Umbrellas, which protesters used to protect themselves from tear gas and pepper spray.

TV’s Renaissance For Strong Women Is Happening In A Surprising Place

“The days of female movie stars retreating to cable – HBO, Showtime, FX – to find good work are coming to a close. Now, by the grace of, well, something, actresses can find plenty of exciting leading roles to play on the big four networks. … How did that happen?”

Why Reading Plays Is So Great

“In fact what I am doing in that moment of reading is acting. I’m not on a stage or in front of an audience; I am not even moving or speaking out loud. … I may be acting silently inside my head, but in that instant, I’m an actor – a unique and rewarding response better elicited by published plays than by any other kind of literature.” Dan Kois demonstrates how this works, with Annie Baker’s The Flick.

How The Man Who Developed The Marshmallow Test Won His Own Battles For Self-Control

Maria Konnikova looks at Walter Mischel (her old psychology professor and thesis adviser) and his struggles – most notably with tobacco – and the techniques he developed to master (some of) his urges.

Tennessee Williams: His Work, His Body, His Body Of Work

Hilton Als: “His writing was the bridge he tried to build between his besmirched, original-sin self – the self that loved the temporary pleasures of sex, but no doubt considered it ‘dirty’ – and the self that sought purification in a world other than this one.”

China Bans Actors With Drug Or Prostitution Busts From TV And Movies

“Citing the role of broadcast media as an ‘important vessel’ for ‘transmitting socialist culture and core values,’ the new regulations claim that the illegal behavior of actors has ‘corrupted the social atmosphere’ and creates a ‘detrimental influence on the development of many young people’.”

Author: Matthew Westphal