Boston's Premier Online Arts Magazinehttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mttbaemcos2kBill Littlefield on the extraordinary and powerful "Black Shield: An American Memoir of Family and Power" (@fsgbooks.bsky.social) Wilbert L. Cooper examines the paradox of Black police officers seeking safety and status inside an institution shaped by racial violence. https://artsfuse.org/332759/book-review-the-black-shield/?24 Aug 2026 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mttbaemcos2khttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mttb5ddmak2kSmitha Radhakrishnan previews "Bijayini Satpathy in Rāgachitra": In her Boston solo premiere, "Rāgachitra," the celebrated Nrityagram artist draws on a lifetime in classical Indian dance to create searching, contemporary works shaped by memory and gender. https://artsfuse.org/333184/dance-preview-dancing-the-odissi-in-my-spine-bijayini-satpathys-new-journey/24 Aug 2026 12:03 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mttb5ddmak2khttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtqpbondbs22David Mehegan writes that, In Vlady Kociancich’s newly translated Argentine novel, "The Eighth Wonder," an indecisive Buenos Aires lawyer wanders through Berlin, cinema, erotic fantasy, and a reality that may be entirely of his own making. @sevenstories.bsky.social https://artsfuse.org/333233/book-review-the-eighth-wonder-traps-a-drifting-man-in-a-dream-of-doubt/23 Aug 2026 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtqpbondbs22https://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtqp52s4ts22Ed Symkus on an exuberant documentary -- "Peter Asher: Everywhere Man"-- that traces the British Invasion star’s serendipitous path from Peter and Gordon to producing James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. https://artsfuse.org/333256/film-review-peter-asher-everywhere-man-yeah-baby-yeah/23 Aug 2026 11:35 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtqp52s4ts22https://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtlppdgllk2r@callinamagician.bsky.social writes that a newly released 1977 collection, "Gravest Gravy," documents the early American punk and New Wave band the Cramps making the past feel dangerous again. https://artsfuse.org/332874/rock-album-review/21 Aug 2026 12:02 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlppdgllk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtlplqsdsc2rThe poem of the week: Bill Lessard's "Father" https://artsfuse.org/333222/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-178/21 Aug 2026 12:00 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlplqsdsc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtlpkbiqas2rJonathan Blumhofer on Anne-Sophie Mutter's latest release, "American Tunes #1" (Alpha Classics): The renowned violinist pairs two late works by André Previn with Sebastian Currier’s witty, searching "Ringtone Variations." https://artsfuse.org/332858/classical-music-album-anne-sophie-mutters-restless-new-music-advocacy/21 Aug 2026 12:00 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlpkbiqas2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtja3q5vj22i@sarahminaosman.bsky.social writes that Sunny Sandler gives a quietly affecting performance in @netflix.com's "Don't Say Good Luck," an unsentimental drama about a high school musical, a mother’s cancer recurrence, and the fragile coexistence of sorrow and joy. https://artsfuse.org/333166/film-review-dont-say-good-luck-finds-grace-in-grief-theater-and-teenage-life/20 Aug 2026 12:18 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtja3q5vj22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtj7wg57x22iThomas Filbin writes that Carter Vaughn Findley’s masterful "Dreams of Empire" (OxfordUniversityPress) charts the endurance, diversity, achievements, and eventual dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, which that bound East and West for nearly six centuries. https://artsfuse.org/333198/book-review-a-grand-readable-history-of-the-ottoman-empire/20 Aug 2026 12:15 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtj7wg57x22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtgpyjluzc2pHenry Carrigan on "The Frenchmen" (@penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social): A lively blend of memoir, intellectual history, and philosophical primer, Emily Eakin revisits the French theorists who transformed American literary studies. https://artsfuse.org/333103/book-review-the-frenchmen-when-literary-theory-was-cool-french-and-sexy/19 Aug 2026 12:24 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtgpyjluzc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtgpufsd422pThe magazine's newsletter is out and about. Editor Bill Marx's column is on the campaign to preserve the Museum of Modern Renaissance in Somerville, MA. The building is not merely a container for art; it is, itself, a work of art. https://artsfuse.substack.com/p/a-future-for-the-muses19 Aug 2026 12:22 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtgpufsd422phttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtfb3g5m5c2aPeg Aloi on "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma." Director Jane Schoenbrun’s seductive, funny, and unsettling meditation on horror, desire, and cinema turns summer-camp carnage into a tale of identity, intimacy, and renewal. https://artsfuse.org/333133/film-review-teenage-sex-and-death-at-camp-miasma-slasher-summers-re-imagined/18 Aug 2026 22:25 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtfb3g5m5c2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mte6hoxjc22hNicholas Shaplyko and Ekaterina Sorokina on preserving the future of their Museum of Modern Renaissance in Somerville, Mass: "We need to sustain the place where the Muses live." https://artsfuse.org/333065/arts-feature-the-museum-of-modern-renaissance-the-urgency-of-preserving-a-living-work-of-art/18 Aug 2026 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mte6hoxjc22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mte6ccwoyk2hBill Littlefield on "Religion as Make-Believe" (@harvardpress.bsky.social): In Neil Van Leeuwen’s challenging book, belief and imagination overlap in ways that are provocative, unsettling, and unexpectedly illuminating. https://artsfuse.org/332633/book-review-religion-as-make-believe-explores-faith-play-and-the-mind/18 Aug 2026 12:02 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mte6ccwoyk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mte67mkrok2hAt Brighton Music Hall, writes Paul Robicheau, Boston’s avant-punk legends Mission of Burma capped an anniversary celebration of Fenway Recordings with a surprisingly potent four-song set and a tribute to the late Jeff “Monoman” Conolly. https://artsfuse.org/333113/concert-review-mission-of-burma-reunites-for-a-fenway-recordings-homecoming/18 Aug 2026 12:01 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mte67mkrok2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mtbuab5los27Scott McLennan talks to the founding drummer of The Mavericks, Paul Deakin, who reflects on loss, reconciliation, and a summer tour devoted to keeping Raul Malo’s songs alive. https://artsfuse.org/333085/concert-preview-the-mavericks-carry-raul-malos-music-forward/17 Aug 2026 13:57 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtbuab5los27https://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mt7m7bojh22jClea Simon on Daniel Silva’s latest Gabriel Allon novel, "Ransom," which sidelines Israeli politics for an unusually timely, expertly paced tale of Russian aggression, drone warfare, and fraying Western alliances. @harpercollins.bsky.social https://artsfuse.org/333048/book-review-daniel-silvas-ransom-a-spy-thriller-for-an-unsettled-present/16 Aug 2026 16:28 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt7m7bojh22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mt4lk3jd322pThomas F. Connolly writes that Terry Chester Shulman’s biography of #JohnBarrymore offers a vivid, corrective account of his artistic greatness, private devastations, and spectacular decline. https://artsfuse.org/332987/book-review-the-great-profile-without-the-myths/15 Aug 2026 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt4lk3jd322phttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mt4lh555ks2pBrooks Geiken writes that Jonathan Suazo’s exhilarating, roots-conscious celebration of Puerto Rican and Dominican traditions is the standout Latin jazz album of the year. For his disc, Ray Obiedo assembles an expertly chosen cast for a consistently engaging, groove-rich set. artsfuse.org/333016/ https://artsfuse.org/333016/latin-jazz-album-reviews-jonathan-suazos-fruto-de-mi-corazon-ricano-vol-2-and-ray-obiedos-slight-accent/15 Aug 2026 11:36 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt4lh555ks2phttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mt22kolj6s2v@mikemarano.bsky.social on "The End of Oak Street." #davidrobertmitchell’s affectionate, unsettling return to an early-’80s Detroit suburb brings Spielbergian wonder and suburban anxiety into collision—though its dinosaur-driven black comedy eventually wears thin. https://artsfuse.org/332971/film-review-the-end-of-oak-street-dinosaurs-in-the-burbs/14 Aug 2026 11:29 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt22kolj6s2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msxkk2fib227This week’s poem: Ilan Mochari’s “Shriving” https://artsfuse.org/332980/weekly-feature-poetry-at-the-arts-fuse-177/13 Aug 2026 11:37 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msxkk2fib227https://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msxkipc6ks27From Bob Ross-inspired solace to a celebrated illustrator’s family legacy and a jubilant collaborative mural, writes Cyrisse Jaffee, these picture books show young readers how making art can build confidence, community, and joy. https://artsfuse.org/332944/childrens-book-reviews-art-for-the-win/13 Aug 2026 11:36 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msxkipc6ks27https://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msv2pcy7zc2dThomas F. Connolly recommends Jesse Kaufman's "The Blood-Dimmed Tide" #HarvardUniversityPress. It is a sweeping work of history that links the imperial collapse of 1905–1921 to the nationalist conflicts that still shape Central Europe today. https://artsfuse.org/332563/book-review-the-long-great-war-that-still-haunts-europe/12 Aug 2026 11:48 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msv2pcy7zc2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msv2mgkkj22dYvonne Owens praises "Troubleshooting: Making Photographs with Dona Ann McAdams" at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. It is a compelling retrospective survey of a photographer who has long worked at the intersection of art, activism, and community. https://artsfuse.org/331454/visual-arts-review-troubleshooting-making-photographs-with-dona-ann-mcadams/12 Aug 2026 11:46 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msv2mgkkj22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msv2jil4a22dThe magazine's newsletter bursts forth ... in my column, I note a little of what's missing in the Boston Globe's arts coverage. https://artsfuse.substack.com/p/as-the-globe-shrinks12 Aug 2026 11:45 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msv2jil4a22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mst5wovih22cMark Favermann on the monumental public art installation The Great Elephant Migration, now on Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue Mall. 100 handcrafted elephants turn an exuberant family attraction into a persuasive call for human-wildlife coexistence. https://artsfuse.org/332905/visual-arts-review-the-great-elephant-migration-elephants-on-parade-conservation-at-stake/11 Aug 2026 17:40 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mst5wovih22chttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3mspyuhomtk2hThis ambitious catalogue (published by Marsilio Arte) is strongest when it treats Mark Rothko’s paintings as shifting perceptual structures—and weakest when it resolves them into metaphysical comfort. https://artsfuse.org/329599/book-review-rothko-in-florence-against-the-solace-of-transcendence/10 Aug 2026 11:32 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mspyuhomtk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msoruufz422lJonathan Blumhofer celebrates "Bernstein's Wall." This documentary draws on a remarkable archive to make composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein’s musical, political, and moral commitments feel urgently contemporary. Screening at @thecoolidge.bsky.social https://artsfuse.org/332845/film-review-bernsteins-wall-a-vivid-portrait-of-the-artist-as-activist/09 Aug 2026 23:54 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msoruufz422lhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msnmem55vs2vFor Peg Aloi, #eliroth’s brightly packaged slasher, "Ice Cream Man," has an intriguing premise, sweet candy-colored visuals, and impressive effects, but its lazy derivations, forced humor, and AI-generated cartoons leave a sour aftertaste. https://artsfuse.org/332780/film-review-ice-cream-man-melts-down-in-a-pool-of-blood/09 Aug 2026 12:43 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msnmem55vs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/theartsfuse.bsky.social/post/3msnmchx7nc2vFor @callinamagician.bsky.social, Film at Lincoln Center's “Scary Movies XIV” boasts a strong lineup that ranges from a colonial nightmare in the Kalahari to a Japanese ghost story and Carlos Conceição’s chilling vision of cosmetic obsession amid climate catastrophe. artsfuse.org/332824/ https://artsfuse.org/332824/film-festival-reviews-scary-movies-xiv-finds-horror-in-bodies-landscapes-and-ecological-ruin/09 Aug 2026 12:42 +0000at://did:plc:2k7pmptxnruziksofjdmw2cm/app.bsky.feed.post/3msnmchx7nc2v