Clothes-Minded
What to read this month
Book Review
Villages, by John Updike
Appraising the substance of style
Easier Said Than Done
Five novels by critics who learned their lesson
A Nice Bloody Fool
The vaguely preposterous Stephen Spender spent a great deal more of his life "being a poet" than he ever did writing poetry. And yet beneath the surface he had a pith of seriousness and principle
Chameleon With a Toupee
Bobby Darin was so determined to be somebody that he tried to be everybody
The Murdoch Touch
If Rupert's so bad, why is Fox so good?
Darling Me
Christopher Isherwood followed Oscar Wilde's prescription for lifelong romance by falling in love with himself—over and over again
An Exquisite Slogger
What to read this month
Leave Them and Love Them
In Alice Munro's fiction, memory and passion reorder life