PLASTIC
Facing down hungry socialist city planners, the communist government of Poland based its rebuilding of Nazi-destroyed Warsaw Old Town on a painting by the nephew of a great artist.
Anthony Paletta is a freelance writer located in New York City. He's contributed to the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Metropolis, Architectural Record, Citylab, and other publications.
MAIS OUI
It’s not the only city to lay claim to that title, but the long overlooked Romanian capital is actually a treasure trove of French influences.
BRUTAL CHARM
There’s no old city, no Mughal palaces, no timeless temples, no winding streets, or anything of the sort.
Line Dancing
Nighttime was the right time for Winsor McCay, whose early 20th century comic strip about a little boy’s dreams proved forever that comics could be both mass entertainment and high art.
No-Hit Wonders
C.D. Rose’s fabricated compendium of failed authors includes one who wrote in an undecipherable code, one who could only get as far as the opening sentence, and one who ate his own books.
A new book takes us through the Big Top’s weird and wacky history as one of the most popular tropes in Western culture.
Anniversary
The 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill's death is a fitting occasion to note that he was not only a great leader but one of the finest writers of the century he helped define.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Why did the Yugoslavian novelist Danilo Kis use modernist experiments to explore the horrors of the Eastern Bloc? Anthony Paletta on his life.
Onomastics
Othello, Alice, Pumblechook—these characters are etched in our minds. But how much meaning are in names? By Anthony Paletta.
Travel for Art’s Sake
Oscar Wilde spent a year touring the U.S. and met the likes of Walt Whitman and Henry James. Anthony Paletta on what the writer learned.
