His loose style of watercolor painting brought him work for nearly 70 years. He also created about 100 fake van Goghs for the biographical film “Lust for Life.”
Each January, the director Steven Soderbergh lists his previous year’s cultural consumption — every movie and TV series watched, every book read. On this week’s episode, we talk books!
For Álvaro Enrigue, a novelist fascinated with historical detail, the first meeting of the Aztecs and Spanish conquistadors is the obsession of a lifetime. He brings it to life in “You Dreamed of Empires.”
“Invisible Man” “made me feel seen and heard,” the rapper-actor says. “I can return the favor.” His new book, “And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self” is out this month.
Yaroslav Trofimov grew up in Kyiv. “Our Enemies Will Vanish” records his experience as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal assigned to cover the war.
Matar won a Pulitzer Prize for his memoir, “The Return,” mourning his homeland and his father. In his new novel, he turns to the untranslatability of exile — and friendship.
His screenplay, based on his own youthful experience, was nominated for an Oscar. His other films included “Sweet November,” based on his own unproduced play.