City As Muse, Rick Beerhorst

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This week: Art judged by the public, art explained by the experts, and the leisure to ponder it all. 

Fiction: You'll Enjoy It When You Get There: The Stories of Elizabeth Taylor  (New York Review Books): This captivating collection of 29 stories by Taylor—the British author who wrote 11 novels (including At Mrs. Lippincote’s) and four story collections, not the famed actress—includes an introduction by Margaret Drabble, who edited the book. Most of the stories revolve around female protagonists in unremarkable English settings, whose experiences reflect a tension between expectation and reality that makes each simultaneously touching and heartbreaking.  CE

 Nonfiction: Rendez-vous with Art, by Philippe de Montebello and Martin Gayford (Thames & Hudson):  The longest-serving director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art converses with an acclaimed British art critic on the elusive questions of how and why we look at art. The two experts offer readers guided tours of the Louvre, the Prado, the Palazzo Pitti, and other institutions as they share insight into the transformative experiences that have made the art their own.  CE

Poetry: The Collected Poems of Mark Strand (Knopf): The Pulitzer Prize-winning former poet laureate has gathered a half-century of magnificent work, to be published on September 30th. Read an interview conducted by Mark here.   DY

Art: ArtPrize—Grand Rapids, MI (September 24-October 12): For 19 days, three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids become an open playing field where anyone can enter the conversation about what art is and why it matters. More than 1,500 pieces of art are displayed for free in public, vying for $560,000 in prizes decided upon by both public vote and a jury of experts.   JP

Music: Mahler's Symphony No. 1 (Tuesday, New York Philharmonic): The New York Philharmonic's opening night gala last week started things off on the wrong foot, but the orchestra will look to get back on track with its subscription opener. Mahler's soaring Symphony No. 1 will be paired with the U.S. premiere of a clarinet concerto by Unsuk Chin. The celebrated Finnish clarinetist Kari Kriikku joins the Philharmonic for the concerto, and Alan Gilbert conducts.  ECS

From the archive: Joseph Pieper: leisure and its discontents, January 1999: On the German philosopher and the meaning of leisure.

From our latest issue: Two Takes on the Common Core by Sol Stern, Peter Wood: Conservative arguments for and against the Common Core.

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