Alexandra Jacobs
Posts
Book Review: ‘Madonna: A Rebel Life,’ by Mary Gabriel
Mary Gabriel’s biography is as thorough as its subject is disciplined. But in relentlessly defending the superstar, where’s the party?
Book Review: ‘Pockets,’ by Hannah Carlson
In her nifty “Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close,” Hannah Carlson unbuttons the politics behind who gets to hide their belongings, and where.
Book Review: ‘Self-Made,’ by Tara Isabella Burton
In a breezy new history of personal branding, Tara Isabella Burton comes face to face with Oscar Wilde, Frederick Douglass, Kim Kardashian and more.
Book Review: ‘The Making of Another Modern Motion Picture Masterpiece,’ by Tom Hanks
Whimsically chronicling the creation of a Marvel-style movie, “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece” sags under a deluge of detail.
Book Review: ‘Meganets,’ by David B. Auerbach
Who’s really in charge of our online behavior? No one, David Auerbach argues in “Meganets.”
Sabrina Brier Is TikTok’s Latest Character
Sabrina Brier is finding success online in the role of a 20-something in New York who’s trying to shed her basic suburban past.
Book Review: ‘Y/N,’ by Esther Yi
In Esther Yi’s weird and wondrous ‘Y/N,’ a bored young woman in thrall to a boy band buys a one-way ticket to Seoul.
Two Histories of the Scandal-Soaked Academy Awards
On the eve of Hollywood’s big, if diminished, night, two deeply researched books dig into the scandal-soaked history of the Academy Awards.
Book Review: ‘Roald Dahl, Teller of the Unexpected’ by Matthew Dennison
“Teller of the Unexpected,” an elegant new biography, sidesteps the ugly side of the children’s book author while capturing his grandiose, tragedy-specked life.
Book Review: ‘Jan Morris: Life from Both Sides: A Biography’
A new biography examines what made the prolific travel writer and transgender figure so driven, and who was ignored along the way.