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Liesl Schillinger

Liesl Schillinger is a New York–based writer and literary critic, and the author of Wordbirds: An Irreverent Lexicon for the 21st Century. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York magazine, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The London Independent on Sunday, and other publications here and abroad.

articles/2014/02/21/the-laboratory-of-real-life-in-caryl-churchill-s-love-and-information/140221-loveinfo-schillinger-tease_wt75kk
Chit Chat

The Laboratory of Real Life

What do we talk about when we talk about love? A breathtaking new play from Caryl Churchill explores love through 57 different short scenes.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2014/02/05/don-t-you-dare-call-russians-thin-skinned/140204-schillinger-russian-pride-tease_llsm0i
Grrr

No Jokes Please, We’re Russian

As journalists descend on the Winter Olympics the most chilling effect may be Russian pride when it comes to the truth about Sochi.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/12/20/the-perfect-book-for-every-man-in-your-life/131218-schillinger-manly-books-tease_cup5vk
Grrrr…

Best Books for Men

From the men who lunch to the Boomer news junkie, Liesl Schillinger picks the year’s best books for the masculine element.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/12/01/whatever-happened-to-great-holiday-films/131129-feel-good-holiday-movies-tease_hulzks
Blank Screen

Hollywood Blues

A call for the return of high-spirited, big-screen romance to enliven the season.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/10/23/time-bandit-donna-tartt-s-goldfinch/131023-donna-tartt-schillinger-tease_qwz3mx
Pulitzer Winner

Time Bandit

<p>Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer-winning literary thriller, <em>Goldfinch</em>, is set in a clamorous present, but mellowed by the timbre of an antique voice. Liesl Schillinger raves.</p>

Liesl Schillinger

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articles/2013/10/16/a-lexical-life-raft-for-the-government-shutdown/131015-word-birds-schillinger-tease_nip4qd
Word Games

How to Survive the Shutdown

The government shutdown has reach such absurd levels that a whole new vocabulary is needed to talk about it. By Liesl Schillinger.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/09/13/the-sickle-of-plenty-mastering-the-art-of-soviet-cooking/130913-russian-cooking-schillinger-tease-alt_xvemhm
Socialist Borscht

The Sickle of Plenty

Liesl Schillinger is so inspired by Anya von Bremzen’s attempt to reclaim Soviet cooking that she’s going to try fish-in-aspic—again.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/06/02/what-tolstoy-teaches-us-about-insider-trading/130531-schillinger-tolstoy-tease_hmg3pu
The Psychology of Greed

Tolstoy on Insider Trading

It’s not hard to understand why Anthony Chiasson, already a millionaire, would risk it all to rake in even more. Libraries are filled with such tales—just ask Tolstoy, writes Liesl Schillinger.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/05/09/new-book-reveals-postwar-germany-s-nazi-party-ties-cover-up/130508-Schillinger-Nazis-tease_qa3epn
Acquiescence

Germany’s Postwar Nazi Cover-Up

A new book reveals that German leaders hid their Nazi past with the acquiescence of the U.S. government. By Liesl Schillinger.

Liesl Schillinger

articles/2013/04/23/madbeth-alan-cumming-plays-every-role-in-macbeth/130423-cumming-macbeth-schillinger-tease_fxrlrx
Sound and Fury

Madbeth

What will he do next, Liesl Schillinger thought, as she watched Alan Cumming play almost every role in his madly brilliant Macbeth.

Liesl Schillinger

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