FROM THE MAGAZINE

December 2022

Theater

Ebony and ivories

The Piano Lesson puts its characters first

By Robert S. Erickson

From the Magazine

Books

The Spectator’s 2022 Books of the Year

Our writers weigh in

By The Spectator

From the Magazine

Book Review

The return of Cormac McCarthy

Arguably America’s greatest living novelist is back with two novels

By Dan Jones

From the Magazine

Books

Think autofiction is easy? Think again

There are relatively few rules beyond (perhaps) a disregard for plot

By Lisa Hilton

From the Magazine

Books

Joyce Carol Oates, a woman for all seasons

She remains one of American literature’s great survivors — and provocateurs

By Zoe Strimpel

From the Magazine

Exhibitions

Murillo the masterful

The Spaniard’s painterly skill outshines his congenital weakness for schmaltz

By Mario Naves

From the Magazine

Television

The shock value of Lena Dunham

She was the low-culture Mary Tyler Moore

By Art Tavana

From the Magazine

Film

The return of Lindsay Lohan

Falling for Christmas looks bound to be tragicomic and artless pulp, but so what?

By Ross Anderson

From the Magazine

Music

David Bowie is bigger than ever

His stature as rock music’s greatest iconoclast shows no sign of being threatened

By Alexander Larman

From the Magazine