Tinsel talk, by Bruce Bawer, THE NEW CRITERION

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Tinsel talk

Film Flam, by Larry McMurtry

by Bruce Bawer

The New Criterion, June 1987, pp. 77-82

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Issues of the 1980s = 8 Years, 78 Issues, 1,123 Articles
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  Issues of 1982 = 4 Issues, 50 Articles
2. [+]
  Issues of 1983 = 10 Issues, 127 Articles
3. [+]
  Issues of 1984 = 11 Issues, 141 Articles
4. [+]
  Issues of 1985 = 11 Issues, 151 Articles
5. [+]
  Issues of 1986 = 11 Issues, 167 Articles
6. [+]
  Issues of 1987 = 11 Issues, 172 Articles
  1. [+]
    January 1987 Issue = 14 Articles
    1. Clement Greenberg in the Forties by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-6
    2. Emily Dickinson by Bruce Bawer, pp. 7-16
    3. Ingres in New York by Dan Hofstadter, pp. 17-25
    4. Thomas Bernhard by Amity Shlaes, pp. 26-32
    5. Reflections on a journey to Belgium and Holland by Elias Friedensohn, pp. 33-44
    6. Poems by Charles Edward Eaton, pp. 45-46
    7. Larkin by Gibbons Ruark, pp. 47-48
    8. A dissent on Menotti by Samuel Lipman, pp. 49-53
    9. High art from the desert by Creighton Gilbert, pp. 54-58
    10. Mark Morris Superstar by Eva Resnikova, pp. 59-62
    11. [+]
      Edmund Wilson: the author at sixty by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 63-69 - 1 Review
      1. The Fifties by Edmund Wilson and Leon Edel
    12. [+]
      The mystery of genius by James Gardner, pp. 70-77 - 1 Review
      1. A Ringing Glass by Donald A. Prater
    13. [+]
      Worlds apart by Donna Rifkind, pp. 78-82 - 2 Reviews
      1. The Afternoon Sun by David Pryce-Jones
      2. A Misalliance by Anita Brookner
    14. Sundays at the Whitney by Roger Kimball, pp. 83-94
  2. [+]
    February 1987 Issue = 15 Articles
    1. The lowdown on Richard Gilman by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-5
    2. Matisse by Jed Perl, pp. 6-13
    3. "The Common Pursuit" in New York by James Atlas, pp. 14-19
    4. Martin Amis on America by Bruce Bawer, pp. 20-26
    5. The Future of Times Square by Susan Woldenberg, pp. 27-36
    6. "Opera" by Herbert Morris, pp. 37-43
    7. The Machine Age revisited by William H. Jordy, pp. 44-52
    8. Grow old along with me! by Eva Resnikova, pp. 53-57
    9. Homer & Sargent by Eric Gibson, pp. 58-65
    10. [+]
      The golden boy of Surrealism by Renee Winegarten, pp. 66-68 - 1 Review
      1. Difficult Death by Rene Crevel
    11. [+]
      Frank Stella's crisis by Tim Hilton, pp. 69-70 - 1 Review
      1. Working Space by Frank Stella
    12. [+]
      Impatient faith by Robert Richman, pp. 71-73 - 1 Review
      1. Daily Horoscope by Dana Gioia
    13. [+]
      Keeping the Sabbath by Donna Rifkind, pp. 74-76 - 1 Review
      1. My Mother's Sabbath Days by Chaim Grade
    14. Kitchen video culture by Michael Brandow, pp. 77-82
    15. An exchange on Montale, pp. 83-94
  3. [+]
    March 1987 Issue = 19 Articles
    1. The Met's 20th-century folly by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-3
    2. Vladimir Nabokov by Fernanda Eberstadt, pp. 4-18
    3. The Musee d'Orsay by James Lord, pp. 19-27
    4. What is "modern" poetry? by Bruce Bawer, pp. 28-36
    5. Poems by William Virgil Davis, p. 37
    6. Eastern Neck Island; The celestial by Elizabeth Spires, pp. 38-40
    7. The two old ladies of September by W.S. Di Piero, pp. 41-42
    8. An old New England graveyard by Peter Filkins, p. 43
    9. On yielding to whim by Charles Martin, p. 44
    10. Love American-style by Eva Resnikova, pp. 45-48
    11. Schnabel redivivus by Samuel Lipman, pp. 49-52
    12. Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers by Dan Hofstadter, pp. 53-56
    13. Jottings along the way by Jed Perl, pp. 57-62
    14. [+]
      Rothward bound by Donna Rifkind, pp. 63-65 - 1 Review
      1. The Counterlife by Philip Roth
    15. [+]
      Indi(c)ting Bernard Berenson by Michael M. Thomas, pp. 66-69 - 1 Review
      1. Artful Partners by Colin Simpson
    16. [+]
      architecture redux by Roger Kimball, pp. 70-72 - 1 Review
      1. Architecture, Anyone? by Ada Louise Huxtable
    17. [+]
      Tales from the other side by Stephen Schwartz, pp. 73-76 - 1 Review
      1. The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq
    18. Night comes to the Field Museum by Victor M. Cassidy, pp. 77-80
    19. Rewriting the history of American literature by Sacvan Bercovitch and James W. Tuttleton, pp. 81-90
  4. [+]
    April 1987 Issue = 19 Articles
    1. On the "Spiritual in Art" by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-5
    2. New tales for old wives by Gloria G. Fromm, pp. 6-15
    3. What is the "British school"? by K.S. Champa, pp. 16-20
    4. The mysteries of John Fowles by Bruce Bawer, pp. 21-36
    5. New poems by Daniel Mark Epstein, p. 37
    6. Almost in love by Andrew Hudgins, pp. 38-39
    7. The marriage; Estrangement by Patricia Clark, pp. 40-41
    8. Last things; Curtains by Harvey Shapiro, p. 42
    9. Sad thoughts on Walter Busterkeys, a.k.a. Liberace by Samuel Lipman, pp. 43-45
    10. Isozaki's MOCA by Christopher Flacke, pp. 46-50
    11. "Crime and Punishment" by Fernanda Eberstadt, pp. 51-54
    12. "Cinderella" by Eva Resnikova, pp. 55-56
    13. Leland Bell by Jed Perl, pp. 57-62
    14. [+]
      The hardened reviewer by Donald Hall, pp. 63-65 - 1 Review
      1. The Complete Prose of Marianne Moore by Patricia C. Willis and Marianne Moore
    15. [+]
      Casting away by Donna Rifkind, pp. 66-68 - 1 Review
      1. Foe by J.M. Coetzee
    16. [+]
      American writers and the British muse by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 69-72 - 1 Review
      1. Atlantic Double-Cross by Robert Weisbuch
    17. [+]
      Mountain mystifications by Roger Kimball, pp. 73-78 - 1 Review
      1. The Spell by Hermann Broch
    18. Henry Russell Hitchcock, 1903-1987 by William H. Jordy, pp. 79-81
    19. Mark Morris and his critics, pp. 82-94
  5. [+]
    May 1987 Issue = 16 Articles
    1. The death of Andy Warhol by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-3
    2. The confinement of free verse by Brad Leithauser, pp. 4-14
    3. Out of Eden by W.S. Di Piero, pp. 15-23
    4. [+]
      Allan Bloom & the closing of the American mind by David Gress, pp. 24-35 - 1 Review
      1. The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
    5. Glenway Wescott, 1901-1987 by Bruce Bawer, pp. 36-45
    6. New poems by Jane Kenyon, pp. 46-50
    7. An explanation of the dolby system by David R. Slavitt, p. 51
    8. Concentration by Peter Davison, p. 52
    9. In Correggio country by Creighton Gilbert, pp. 53-58
    10. Was Minimalist art a political movement? by Eric Gibson, pp. 59-64
    11. Rebel without a cause by Eva Resnikova, pp. 65-66
    12. The profits of subsidy by Matt Wolf, pp. 67-71
    13. [+]
      Sartre resartus by Roger Kimball, pp. 72-78 - 1 Review
      1. Sartre: A Life by Annie Cohen-Solal
    14. [+]
      Literary landscape by Leon Edel, pp. 79-80 - 1 Review
      1. The Sixth Continent by Iain Finlayson
    15. [+]
      Platonic relationships by James C. Holt, pp. 81-85 - 1 Review
      1. Acastos by Iris Murdoch
    16. Nabokov as critic, pp. 86-94
  6. [+]
    June 1987 Issue = 20 Articles
    1. The new Women's museum by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-3
    2. James Huneker as music critic by Samuel Lipman, pp. 4-14
    3. George Santayana by Joseph Epstein, pp. 15-27
    4. Paul Klee now by Jed Perl, pp. 28-31
    5. New poems by Donald Hall, pp. 32-33
    6. Trouble by Louis Simpson, pp. 34-36
    7. At the graves in memory; Wayside flowers on the Hazel Brae by Gibbons Ruark, pp. 37-38
    8. Planting bulbs in September by Florence Grossman, p. 39
    9. A voice outside; Montana cat; What have you done with your life? by David Paul, pp. 40-42
    10. Laura Dean at the Joyce by Eva Resnikova, pp. 43-45
    11. A "guide" to popular culture? by Martha Bayles, pp. 46-50
    12. Esteban Vicente by Elizabeth Frank, pp. 51-55
    13. Jasper's seasons by Jed Perl, pp. 56-58
    14. Danger and misery on Broadway by Fernanda Eberstadt, pp. 59-62
    15. [+]
      Literary free play at Rutgers by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 63-67 - 1 Review
      1. The Renewal of Literature by Richard Poirier
    16. [+]
      Isn't it romantic by Donna Rifkind, pp. 68-71 - 1 Review
      1. Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark
    17. [+]
      Warming up for poetry by James Atlas, pp. 72-76 - 1 Review
      1. Robert Lowell: Collected Prose by Robert Giroux and Robert Lowell
    18. [+]
      Tinsel talk by Bruce Bawer, pp. 77-82 - 1 Review
      1. Film Flam by Larry McMurtry
    19. Donald Kuspit comes to rural Pennsylvania by Theodore Prescott, pp. 83-85
    20. Translating Montale by William Arrowsmith and William Jay Smith, pp. 86-94
  7. [+]
    Summer 1987 Issue = 3 Articles
    1. Alfred Barr at MOMA by Hilton Kramer, p. i
    2. Alfred H. Barr, Jr. by Rona Roob, pp. 1-22
    3. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and the Museum of Modern Art by Margaret Scolari Barr, pp. 23-88
  8. [+]
    September 1987 Issue = 14 Articles
    1. Is the symphony orchestra dead? by Samuel Lipman, pp. 1-7
    2. The novels of Saul Bellow by Bruce Bawer, pp. 8-24
    3. The happy critic by Hilton Kramer, pp. 25-30
    4. The academy vs. the canon by Roger Kimball, pp. 31-36
    5. The shows must go on by Jed Perl, pp. 37-43
    6. Mondrian in theory and practice by K.S. Champa, pp. 44-48
    7. Poems by Elizabeth Spires, pp. 49-50
    8. In Rousseau's jungles by Michael J. Rosen, pp. 51-52
    9. Dutch treat by Eva Resnikova, pp. 53-66
    10. Booksellers at play by Martha Bayles, pp. 67-70
    11. [+]
      Saving Rupert Brooke by Gloria G. Fromm, pp. 71-76 - 1 Review
      1. The Neo-Pagans by Paul Delany
    12. [+]
      The collecting life by Denys Sutton, pp. 77-81 - 1 Review
      1. The Havemeyers by Frances Weitzenhoffer
    13. [+]
      Old, new, buried, blue by Donna Rifkind, pp. 82-84 - 1 Review
      1. Family Skeletons by Henrietta Garnett
    14. Black Mountain comes to Bard by Robert Richman, pp. 85-94
  9. [+]
    October 1987 Issue = 18 Articles
    1. The Tynan phenomenon by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-5
    2. V.S. Naipaul by Joseph Epstein, pp. 6-15
    3. Notes on photography by W.S. Di Piero, pp. 16-27
    4. Reading Denis Donoghue by Bruce Bawer, pp. 28-35
    5. The Book-of-the-Month Club by Terry Teachout, pp. 36-44
    6. Poems by Timothy Steele, pp. 45-48
    7. House lust by Prescott Evarts, Jr., p. 49
    8. The familiar by Dick Allen, p. 50
    9. Idolatry brood by Rachel Hadas, p. 51
    10. Luchresi, not Edgar Poe by G.S. Sharat Chandra, p. 52
    11. The violinist of the age by Samuel Lipman, pp. 53-57
    12. Welcome to Berlin by Jed Perl, pp. 58-62
    13. The Bolshoi debacle by Eva Resnikova, pp. 63-66
    14. [+]
      The androgynous Papa Hemingway by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 67-73 - 1 Review
      1. Hemingway by Kenneth S. Lynn
    15. [+]
      Ann Beattie, art critic by Eric Gibson, pp. 74-76 - 1 Review
      1. Alex Katz by Ann Beattie
    16. [+]
      Poet of things past by James Gardner, pp. 77-80 - 1 Review
      1. The Colloquies and Selected Letters by Guido Gozzano
    17. [+]
      A Ford revival? by Victor M. Cassidy, pp. 81-85 - 1 Review
      1. The Ford Madox Ford Reader by Sondra J. Stang and Ford Madox Ford
    18. On "The confinement of free verse" by Louis Simpson and Brad Leithauser, pp. 86-94
  10. [+]
    November 1987 Issue = 18 Articles
    1. "Morality Tales" on tour by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-4
    2. Doing new music, doing American music by Samuel Lipman, pp. 5-16
    3. The trials of Poe by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 17-26
    4. Pollock and company by Jed Perl, pp. 27-34
    5. Howard Moss, 1922-1987 by Bruce Bawer, pp. 35-37
    6. Poems by Mary Jo Salter, pp. 38-39
    7. Across the long dark border; Out of the past by Edward Hirsch, pp. 40-42
    8. The concert grand by Charles Edward Eaton, p. 43
    9. If you can by Eric Pankey, p. 44
    10. Trisha Brown uptown by Eva Resnikova, pp. 45-48
    11. The year of John Chamberlain by William C. Agee, pp. 49-54
    12. [+]
      Rousseau's "virtue" by Roger Kimball, pp. 55-63 - 1 Review
      1. Rousseau and the Republic of Virtue by Carol Blum
    13. [+]
      Ruskin according to Proust by Guy Davenport, pp. 64-66 - 1 Review
      1. On Reading Ruskin by Marcel Proust, Jean Autret, William Burford, and Philip J. Wolfe, ...
    14. [+]
      The critic as storyteller by William H. Pritchard, pp. 67-69 - 1 Review
      1. Four Dubliners by Richard Ellmann
    15. [+]
      No way out by Donna Rifkind, pp. 70-72 - 1 Review
      1. The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble
    16. [+]
      Who was Paul Morand? by Renee Winegarten, pp. 73-78 - 1 Review
      1. Fancy Goods/Open All Night by Paul Morand
    17. Talk shows at the Met by Eric Gibson, pp. 79-81
    18. Letters, pp. 82-90
  11. [+]
    December 1987 Issue = 16 Articles
    1. Last---or lost---intellectuals? by Hilton Kramer, pp. 1-4
    2. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala by Bruce Bawer, pp. 5-20
    3. Frank Stella at MOMA by Roger Kimball, pp. 21-28
    4. The ghost story today by Brad Leithauser, pp. 29-37
    5. "Is the symphony orchestra dead?" by Ernest Fleischmann and Samuel Lipman, pp. 38-41
    6. Cezanne's maxims by Bob Kirsch, pp. 42-45
    7. Poems by Charles Tomlinson, pp. 46-47
    8. The rise; White oxen by Louis Simpson, pp. 48-49
    9. Mother Church by Peter Davison, p. 50
    10. Photography and beyond by Jed Perl, pp. 51-56
    11. Zurbaran at the Met by Creighton Gilbert, pp. 57-62
    12. Martha Graham by Eva Resnikova, pp. 63-66
    13. [+]
      Sherwood Anderson: a room of his own by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 67-77 - 1 Review
      1. Sherwood Anderson by Kim Townsend
    14. [+]
      Julliard life and death by Samuel Lipman, pp. 78-80 - 1 Review
      1. Nothing But the Best by Judith Kogan
    15. [+]
      Life of the artist by Eric Gibson, pp. 81-85 - 1 Review
      1. The Life of Henry Moore by Roger Berthoud
    16. Alfred Kazin in "Dissent" by James W. Tuttleton, pp. 86-94
7. [+]
  Issues of 1988 = 10 Issues, 157 Articles
8. [+]
  Issues of 1989 = 10 Issues, 158 Articles
[+]
Issues of the 1990s = 10 Years, 100 Issues, 1,883 Articles
1. [+]
  Issues of 1990 = 10 Issues, 179 Articles
2. [+]
  Issues of 1991 = 10 Issues, 196 Articles
3. [+]
  Issues of 1992 = 10 Issues, 197 Articles
4. [+]
  Issues of 1993 = 10 Issues, 196 Articles
5. [+]
  Issues of 1994 = 10 Issues, 189 Articles
6. [+]
  Issues of 1995 = 10 Issues, 183 Articles
7. [+]
  Issues of 1996 = 10 Issues, 197 Articles
8. [+]
  Issues of 1997 = 10 Issues, 182 Articles
9. [+]
  Issues of 1998 = 10 Issues, 183 Articles
10. [+]
  Issues of 1999 = 10 Issues, 181 Articles
[+]
Issues of the 2000s = 6 Years, 52 Issues, 1,012 Articles
1. [+]
  Issues of 2000 = 10 Issues, 183 Articles
2. [+]
  Issues of 2001 = 9 Issues, 183 Articles
3. [+]
  Issues of 2002 = 10 Issues, 190 Articles
4. [+]
  Issues of 2003 = 10 Issues, 190 Articles
5. [+]
  Issues of 2004 = 10 Issues, 204 Articles
6. [+]
  Issues of 2005 = 3 Issues, 62 Articles