Yearly Archive: 2022

Heartfield and Photography

The celebrated German photomontage artist John Heartfield (né Helmut Herzfeld, 1891-1968), had an astonishing gift for finding specific photographs and reconfiguring them as news in a world of his invention — a world in...

Computers Don’t Laugh

A few days ago, whether through algorithmic calculation or sheer coincidence, the website academia.edu invited me to comment on a paper called “The Last Defence of Human Language: Speech Community”.  I hemmed and hawed...

Marcella! A Review of Amarcord

This one is a memoir, rather than a cookbook.  It’s full of detailed information: places, times,  details about food and preparation and teaching and publishing — and marriage.  There’s a particularly memorable contrast between...