profiles
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Portraits by Other Means
Comeback Kings and Queens
Sinead O’Connor Outside Sinead O’Connor’s whitewashed home here, on a windswept beachfront overlooking the misty Irish Sea, there are two talismans. One, a knee-high...
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Birnbaum V.
Russell Banks
Our man in Boston sits down for the sixth time with Russell Banks to discuss his latest novel, the movie business, Mitt Romney, the emigration of investigative journalists, and why it’s wise to wait until your 70’s before writing about obsessive love.
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Excerpts
King of the Hyperpolyglots
On a quest to find the person who speaks the most languages on Earth, our correspondent encountered Emil Krebs, a German diplomat who knew, by some accounts, 65 of them—and happily swore in dozens.
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Birnbaum V.
Sven Birkerts
Our Man in Boston sits down for this third conversation with author, critic, and book-world majordomo Sven Birkerts to talk about the current reviewing situation, the best books of 2000, and Amy Winehouse.
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Birnbaum V.
Nicole Krauss
A chat between our man in Boston and the writer Nicole Krauss about her latest book, in which her latest book is barely discussed.
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Haters Gonna Hate
This Is Not a George Plimpton Interview
Every artist deals with critics differently—Richard Ford spitting on Colson Whitehead, for example. But the rule is to avoid direct contact. Not for John Warner, debut novelist, who decided to seek out the man behind his worst review.
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Following the Riots
The Barber Comes Around
When London’s Tottenham district fell to youth-driven chaos this past August, an elderly barber almost lost everything. Then other young people stepped in to keep him cutting.
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Gallery
Swimming to Rio
A series of beach portraits from Ramos, an artificial saltwater lake surrounded by more than a dozen of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas—an oasis in one of the city’s poorest areas.
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Gonzo Geography
Handheld Time Machines
Cities are full of noise and scuffle, and they don’t always reveal their history. Armed with a fistful of maps from 1901, and a smartphone bristling with data-recording apps, one man tries to uncover a city’s secrets.
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Gallery
Cruising
Chad States previously photographed men at their most masculine. His latest work finds them amid lush parks at their most discreet.
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Portraits by Other Means
Till Death Do Us Part
Marcus Garvey Garvey had a stroke in January of 1940, and he becomes incapacitated. George Padmore, who was a columnist for The Chicago Defender, had heard a rumor that Garvey had...
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Birnbaum V.
Geraldine Brooks
Our man in Boston sits down with the Pulitzer-winning novelist to discuss Australian literature, Harvard’s (neglected) charter to educate American Indians, and those residents of Martha’s Vineyard who say no to Chardonnay.