En crítica de arte, publicó algunas colecciones de ensayos, incluidos: "Encounters and Reflections: Art in the Historical Present" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990), con el cual ganó el National Book Critics Circle Prize for Criticism en 1990; "Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992); "Playing With the Edge: The Photographic Achievement of Robert Mapplethorpe" (University of California, 1995); "The Madonna of the Future: Essays in a Pluralistic Art World" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000) y "Unnatural Wonders: Essays from the Gap Between Art and Life".