@christopherbyrd.bsky.social
Reposted
Another sad loss today: the longtime New Yorker writer Mark Singer. Here's his marvelous profile of Ricky Jay, from 1993. www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
Ricky Jay’s Magical Secrets
From 1993: The magician’s deft illusions flout reality, and he rejects the notion that magic is a suitable entertainment for children.
www.newyorker.com
June 19, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Another sad loss today: the longtime New Yorker writer Mark Singer. Here's his marvelous profile of Ricky Jay, from 1993. www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
“In the work of [Mathias Énard], one comes to expect certain things: historical details, geopolitical thinking, elevated, sometimes baroque prose, intoxicants, violence, voluptuous solitude, troubled personal affairs, and a manifold sensuality.”
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Other in the Mirror | Christopher Byrd
In Mathias Énard’s many novels, encounters between cultures can lead to transformation—and peril.
www.nybooks.com
June 4, 2026 at 12:24 AM
“In the work of [Mathias Énard], one comes to expect certain things: historical details, geopolitical thinking, elevated, sometimes baroque prose, intoxicants, violence, voluptuous solitude, troubled personal affairs, and a manifold sensuality.”
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Desperate Times Call for Antediluvian Measures www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/a...
Desperate Times Call for Antediluvian Measures
www.nytimes.com
May 19, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Desperate Times Call for Antediluvian Measures www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/a...
Reposted
What would you like the headline of your obituary to be?
'Publisher of the Dead Joins Them.'
—Edwin Frank, NYRB editor, answers a few questions for Cultured magazine.
'Publisher of the Dead Joins Them.'
—Edwin Frank, NYRB editor, answers a few questions for Cultured magazine.
Edwin Frank Has Spent Decades Resurrecting Books the World Forgot
As the founder of NYRB Classics, Frank has built a literary empire out of reviving overlooked masterpieces.
www.culturedmag.com
April 24, 2026 at 4:12 PM
What would you like the headline of your obituary to be?
'Publisher of the Dead Joins Them.'
—Edwin Frank, NYRB editor, answers a few questions for Cultured magazine.
'Publisher of the Dead Joins Them.'
—Edwin Frank, NYRB editor, answers a few questions for Cultured magazine.
Reposted
including Master & Commander in the Pynchonesque BAM series because of a brief shoutout in Mason & Dixon... that's how you know a real head is curating www.bam.org/film/2026/py...
Pynchonesque
This collection orbits the signature obsessions of literary recluse Thomas Pynchon.
www.bam.org
April 23, 2026 at 2:49 PM
including Master & Commander in the Pynchonesque BAM series because of a brief shoutout in Mason & Dixon... that's how you know a real head is curating www.bam.org/film/2026/py...
One of the year’s best games: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/a...
A Mind-Blowing Adventure With a Walking Lighthouse
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:31 PM
One of the year’s best games: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/a...
A Group of Socialists Created a Hit Game That Tore Them Apart www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A Group of Socialists Created a Hit Game That Tore Them Apart
The role-playing game Disco Elysium wowed critics by lacerating capitalism, communism and fascism. But instead of a sequel came bitter lawsuits and five rival studios.
www.nytimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:48 PM
A Group of Socialists Created a Hit Game That Tore Them Apart www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted
so it's been like this for a while I see
August 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM
so it's been like this for a while I see
“There’s a special pleasure for critics in hearing from readers who are unsure whether to take a particular review as positive or negative.)”
Truth.
In Defense of the Traditional Review www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Truth.
In Defense of the Traditional Review www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
In Defense of the Traditional Review
Far from being a journalistic relic, as suggested by recent developments at the New York Times, arts criticism is inherently progressive, keeping art honest and pointing toward its future.
www.newyorker.com
July 30, 2025 at 5:02 AM
“There’s a special pleasure for critics in hearing from readers who are unsure whether to take a particular review as positive or negative.)”
Truth.
In Defense of the Traditional Review www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Truth.
In Defense of the Traditional Review www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted
Big thanks to @christopherbyrd.bsky.social at The New York Times for their coverage of Eriksholm 👇https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/arts/eriksholm-stolen-dream-review.html
Escaping Trouble With a Blowpipe and a Plan
www.nytimes.com
July 23, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Big thanks to @christopherbyrd.bsky.social at The New York Times for their coverage of Eriksholm 👇https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/arts/eriksholm-stolen-dream-review.html
We gave this a NYT Critic’s Pick: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/a...
Finding Yourselves in a Gloriously Stressful Sci-Fi Adventure
www.nytimes.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:20 AM
We gave this a NYT Critic’s Pick: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/a...
Reposted
"This book contains nothing gratuitous, nothing self-serving, no special pleading, no striving to persuade or please. It offers no false consolation – not in sentiment, nor tone or structure." --Charlotte Wood
May 18, 2025 at 7:40 PM
"This book contains nothing gratuitous, nothing self-serving, no special pleading, no striving to persuade or please. It offers no false consolation – not in sentiment, nor tone or structure." --Charlotte Wood
The best single-player game I’ve reviewed so far this year: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/a...
A Spectacular R.P.G. Has Balletic Combat and Powerful Twists
www.nytimes.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The best single-player game I’ve reviewed so far this year: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/a...
I like how our monthly indie games roundup at The New York Times is shaping up. I’m super curious about the games that Harold Goldberg and Yussef Cole picked.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/a...
3 Video Games You May Have Missed in March
Karma: The Dark World takes inspirations like BioShock and “Severance” to the next level with creepily surreal and bizarrely utopian set pieces. Expelled! and Centum also delight.
www.nytimes.com
April 15, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I like how our monthly indie games roundup at The New York Times is shaping up. I’m super curious about the games that Harold Goldberg and Yussef Cole picked.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/a...
2025 deserves a new Pynchon book. It’s only fair.
April 15, 2025 at 11:10 AM
2025 deserves a new Pynchon book. It’s only fair.
Glory to God. 🙏🏽 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316427...
Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon: 9781594206108 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The new novel from Thomas Pynchon Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation busines...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
April 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Glory to God. 🙏🏽 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316427...
Reposted
“It took a while for me to think that writing about my experience was a possibility.”
—@suzannescanlon.bsky.social, interviewed by Anne K. Yoder
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—@suzannescanlon.bsky.social, interviewed by Anne K. Yoder
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Suzanne Scanlon - Believer Magazine
I was first introduced to Suzanne Scanlon at Dixon Place in the Lower East Side of Manhattan over a decade ago, at a now seemingly prescient gathering that Kate Zambreno had assembled in collaboration...
www.thebeliever.net
April 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
“It took a while for me to think that writing about my experience was a possibility.”
—@suzannescanlon.bsky.social, interviewed by Anne K. Yoder
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—@suzannescanlon.bsky.social, interviewed by Anne K. Yoder
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
Reposted
RIP Wilson Center. Musk staffers visited the center, and shortly after, its leadership staff and senior government employees were ousted. Dozens of federal employees, about a third of the center’s workforce, were also slated for administrative leave.
April 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
RIP Wilson Center. Musk staffers visited the center, and shortly after, its leadership staff and senior government employees were ousted. Dozens of federal employees, about a third of the center’s workforce, were also slated for administrative leave.
I’m happy to see this @likaluca.bsky.social interview in @thebeliever.net www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Lisa Lucas - Believer Magazine
The first time I met Lisa Lucas was around 2012, through mutual publishing friends, in the early days after my arrival in New York City. While I was a wide-eyed foreigner trying to cobble together a n...
www.thebeliever.net
April 2, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I’m happy to see this @likaluca.bsky.social interview in @thebeliever.net www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
I profiled the visionary game designer Davey Wreden for @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...
The Game Designer Playing Through His Own Psyche
Davey Wreden found acclaim in his twenties, with the Stanley Parable and the Beginner’s Guide. His new game, Wanderstop, grapples with the depression that followed.
www.newyorker.com
March 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I profiled the visionary game designer Davey Wreden for @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...