Joy Setton

image of Joy Setton

Of Franco-American nationality, Joy Setton is a professional dilettante and an amateur writer living in New York.


Cultural Caviar

Photographers, Real and Imagined

Photographers, Real and Imagined

After finishing a series of photographs, Jed Martin feels like he never wants to take

Cultural Caviar

Of Oil and Oil Paints

Of Oil and Oil Paints

The de Kooning show just closed at MoMA, and I just finished reading The Quest: Energy,

Lit Crit

The Year Is Almost Over—Is the World?

The Year Is Almost Over—Is the World?

Things aren’t looking too good these days, says Slavoj Zizek in his latest book,

Cultural Caviar

Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread

In Miami Beach on Monday morning, the convention center was strewn with cardboard,

Lit Crit

From Black Robes to White Coats

From Black Robes to White Coats

I just drove to Kansas and back, 2600 miles listening to the radio and pondering

Lit Crit

The Most Brutal Species

The Most Brutal Species

David Grossman. To the End of the Land. Vintage (reprint edition), 2011. 672pp. Dave

Cultural Caviar

What is and What Doesn’t Have to Be

What is and What Doesn’t Have to Be

On Lake Geneva I float, looking at France across the water, where the grass is not

Commerce

Stock Characters and Stock Prices

Stock Characters and Stock Prices

On the blue Mediterranean I float, reading: It’s only now that we realize that the

Apocalypse Now

Of Drama and Drachmas

Of Drama and Drachmas

On the blue Aegean I float, reading: Greek cities were at least for a while taken over

Trash

The Effluent Society

The Effluent Society

It is summer in the city and the smell of trash rises from the hot streets. There is

Lit Crit

Of Confucius and Confusion

Of Confucius and Confusion

In his new book On China, Henry Kissinger looks at what makes China what it is. In his

Lit Crit

The Freedom to Be Middling

The Freedom to Be Middling

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen came out last year, but since it has been called the novel

Fashion

Objets d′Art: Nothing More Than Objets

Objets d′Art: Nothing More Than Objets

I usually go to art shows to look at fashion, but last week I went to a fashion show to

Lit Crit

Of Novels and Novelty Acts

Of Novels and Novelty Acts

According to reviewers, Jennifer Egan’s novel A Visit From the Goon Squad is

Lit Crit

Literature’s Most Influential Hussy

Literature’s Most Influential Hussy

She lives on credit and lusts after entertainment, whether emotional or commercial. She

Lit Crit

Donald Rumsfeld: Known, Unknown, and Better Left Unsaid

Donald Rumsfeld: Known, Unknown, and Better Left Unsaid

Nixon in China, John Adams’s opera based on Richard Nixon’s détente-seeking 1972

Cultural Caviar

Gauche Contre Droite: The Lévy-Houellebecq Letters

Gauche Contre Droite: The Lévy-Houellebecq Letters

Last week we nostalgically suggested that culturally, things might have been better in

Cultural Caviar

Fran Lebowitz is Always Right

Fran Lebowitz is Always Right

Fran Lebowitz doesn’t write anymore. Does it have something to do with having known

Cultural Caviar

Art: Scene and Unseen

Art: Scene and Unseen

Thursday night is opening night at the Chelsea galleries in New York. But, an art

Cultural Caviar

Bernhard the Happy Nihilist

Bernhard the Happy Nihilist

“You must come visit us in Vienna,” said Mrs H. as we lunched at Cecconi’s in