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Porter on the “tone of particular indulgence”

When I and some friends reconnected with our senior-year high school English teacher at Facebook recently, he posted our syllabus, which was amazing to encounter after all this time. The class was my first exposure to Borges, Conrad, Dostoyevsky, Heller, Kafka, and many other writers I still admire. Near the start of the year, we read “Noon Wine,” the story . . .

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Human carriage: reading & transmission of culture

For the duration of its The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia show, the Guggenheim has given over its rotunda to Ann Hamilton’s “human carriage.” When set in motion, a simple and strangely beautiful little silk-canopied trolley circles the balustrade spirals, top to bottom, carrying Tibetan hand cymbals that ring at seemingly random intervals. Everyone not wearing headphones slowly becomes . . .

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The Smart Set: Lauren Cerand’s Weekly Events

The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to . . .

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