Prisoners
'Caesar' Comes Alive In An Italian Prison
In Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's new film, Caesar Must Die, a group of prisoners put on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It's barely an hour and a quarter, and it's physically small-scale, but it's so compressed it wears you out -- in a good way.
Two New Anthologies Are Essential for Any Blues Collection
Music by blues singer and guitarist Robert Pete Williams has just been reissued. Williams, like Leadbelly, was a convicted murderer who sang his way out of prison. Commentator Milo Miles has this review.
Vonnegut's Unconventional "Hocus Pocus" is Rich with History
Kurt Vonnegut's new novel is set in 2001 in a radically reconfigured America. The complex, self-referential plot reveals unique insights into the United State's past, says book critic John Leonard. It's Vonnegut's best book in years.