Stuart Klawans has been the film critic for The Nation since 1988. He is the author of the books Film Follies: The Cinema Out of Order (a finalist for the 1999 National Book Critics Circle Awards) and Left in the Dark: Film Reviews and Essays, 1988-2001. His film criticism and reviews won a 2007 National Magazine Award.

Bye Bye Birdland

The first volume of Stanley Crouch’s decades-in-the-making biography gets to the heart of Bird’s genius, but it will test your patience, says Stuart Klawans.