Robert Bresson made films that stood apart from the mainstream even in their day, but now seem even more distinct because of their Spartan look, spiritual content, largely nonprofessional casts and utter obliviousness to fashion. One afternoon in 1943, Brassai spent an afternoon with Picasso in his house. Picasso on signing his work, on keeping tidy, on people taking his things. Christopher Hitchens reflects on his pal Joseph Heller. How a cultural conundrum almost came up four short if not for Leon Uris.
Divorce drags on through the Italian courts.
He was 76. Charles M. Schultz announces his retirement, due to colon cancer. Two new books about and by Alistair Cooke. An interview with his biographer Nick Clarke. A new biography of Norman Mailer is more interesting than the man himself.