Constructed Social Scenes

The indie-rock bohemias of Toronto, New York, and Chapel Hill -- chronicled by the participants. Read more...

Unbeautiful Winner: Leonard Cohen

Considering Leonard Cohen's place in the Tower of Song. Read more...

Forty Years of History, Thirty Seconds of Joy

Politics and transcendence in the art of the Congolese soukous. Read more...

Character References

Unearthing the buried pleasures of Serengeti's satirical creations. Read more...

Positive Harangues

Craig Finn's bar-band-made-big holds steady to its singalong roots. Read more...

Charity Cases

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Two collections offer new perspectives on the fine art of the cover tune.

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Remembrance of Seasons Past

The lure of nostalgia isn't the only thing that makes writing about baseball so tough. Read more...

Lily Allen: The Same Everygirl After All

The brash singer's sophmore effort revels in wit over drama. Read more...

Bohemias Lost & Found

Does it take a Village to make a Bohemia? Read more...

The List and the Listener

The Dean of Rock Critics dives into the pages of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Read more...

About the Columnist
Robert Christgau is a critic at All Things Considered, writes for the National Arts Journalism Program's ARTicles blog, teaches in NYU's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, and has published five books. His highly searchable website is robertchristgau.com.

May 24: Carson McCullers's The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Works was published on this day in 1951. Included in this omnibus edition were most of the pieces upon which her reputation now stands, putting her in a rank…

Do you recall the tagline from the very first Superman movie? "You'll believe a man can fly!" Well, I'm tempted to craft such a hyperbolic assertion for China Miéville's…

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Books CDs, DVDs to know about now
Paris, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down

When a job at a French ad agency landed in his lap, novelist Rosecrans Baldwin had the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of living la vie Parisienne. And though cold réalité intruded -- in the form of financial struggles and the limits of his rudimentary Français -- the result was a more mature take on the city of his fantasies, flaws included.

Why Cats Land on Their Feet

The feline acrobatics and other mysteries of everyday physics that Mark Levi explores in this charming book are just the beginning. A fun and enlightening workout for your gray matter.

Dead Men

Scott's doomed Antartic expedition and the haunting mysteries surrounding its failure lead to obsession in Richard Pierce's debut novel. As painter Birdie Bowers pursues her fascination with the explorer and his death, she risks both her body and her heart for answers.