charles taylor

Latest Articles

Beyond belief

One of the purposes of escapist reading is to feed our daydreams.
Three literary fantasies for summer — including a true one
By CHARLES TAYLOR | June 18, 2010

Cool killer

Ace Atkins’s new novel is what the movie Public Enemies should have been.
Ace Atkins runs down Machine Gun Kelly
By CHARLES TAYLOR | May 21, 2010

Updike does death, R. Crumb does God, Vanity Fair does Proust

Trying to reach as broad a range of tastes and pocketbooks as possible, we this year scavenged everything from the front pages of the Onion to R. Crumb's genesis, to valedictory Updike. Stuff to read, stuff to look at, glossy pages and matte. Remember
Gift books to savor
By PHOENIX STAFF | December 11, 2009

Wyndham's war

Francis Wyndham's first book of short stories, Out of the War , was published in 1974, when the author was 50 and in the midst of a distinguished career of reviewing and editing.
Revisiting a modest master
By CHARLES TAYLOR | July 24, 2009

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Remember the old "essentialist" argument that women are by nature pacifist and nurturing whereas men are aggressive and warlike?
A moving historical documentary
By GERALD PEARY | December 03, 2008

Sex and food and Abraham Lincoln

We put out a call to our contributors to suggest appropriate holiday gift books and what do we get back?
Gift books for every (perverse) taste
By PHOENIX STAFF | December 02, 2008

Quiet before the storm

There have been a lot of mysteries surrounding the Patriots in the Bill Belichick years, not surprising given the intense effort the team puts into maintaining airtight clubhouse and organizational secrecy in general.
Sports blotter: "Good call, coach" edition
By MATT TAIBBI | November 05, 2008

Scout's honor

In the popular imagination, the spy is always cool, sophisticated, elegant — in other words, European.
Burn Notice ’s honest con job
By CHARLES TAYLOR | August 26, 2008

War stories

“We will be fighting for forty years.” Reading those words at the end of Norman Mailer’s 1968 Miami and the Siege of Chicago , you can’t help but feel a chill.
Mailer on the ’68 conventions
By CHARLES TAYLOR | August 19, 2008

Working girl

On USA’s nifty summer series In Plain Sight , Mary McCormack, as federal marshal Mary Shannon, joins the select league of those who’ve made jeans, tank tops, boots, and leather jackets into an American fashion statement.
In Plain Sight’s straight talk
By CHARLES TAYLOR | July 15, 2008

Masterful mysteries

Not in the Flesh is Ruth Rendell’s 21st Inspector Wexford novel since she and the character debuted in 1964.
Rendell and Nabb transcend genre
By CHARLES TAYLOR | June 09, 2008

Past and present

A book as scrupulously observed and beautifully wrought as Andrew Motion’s In the Blood can provide a shock of recognition. This, you think, is what memoir was meant to be.
Andrew Motion's is a memoir to savor
By CHARLES TAYLOR | May 27, 2008

The Boston Phoenix–Alumni Film Critics’ Poll

It’s true, the Boston Phoenix has never won an Oscar.
Our first-ever round-up of the past year’s best movies, with a little help from our friends
By PHOENIX STAFF | February 13, 2008

Boxed and ready

The cream of the season’s CD/DVD crop
By PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | December 14, 2007

Agent Zimmerman

I had just removed his hand — gently, I hope — from my knee when the man in the off-white linen suit told me that he was the one who recruited Bob Dylan into the CIA.
Bob Dylan? A CIA spy? Wait . . . now it all makes sense. (Or as much sense as his lyrics make, anyway.)
By JAMES PARKER | November 20, 2007