The Rake Magazine

The most insightful films about the Holocaust certainly haven’t been made by Germans, so why shouldn’t a Dane director investigate the legacy of slavery in the United States? Of course, that leaves redemption and uplifting escapes out of the script, but the story Lars von Trier tells is filled with assumptions, speculations, and unexpected turns … Read more

All the would-be writers out there claiming that having kids makes it impossible to start a novel should take a tip from Antonya Nelson. When the kids are young and demanding, write short stories during Sesame Street. When they get older and head to grade school, expand with a novel or two. When adolescence hits, … Read more

Here’s a guy whose novels always start with really good ideas. In fact, Whitehead’s jacket copy often is more interesting than other authors’ entire novels. That’s an impressive gift, indeed. Nor does he disappoint over the long haul, spinning those ideas–hooks, really–into clever, entertaining, and deceptively weighty stories. For instance, his first novel, The Intuitionist, … Read more

Allegra Goodman is one of those ridiculous prodigies who managed to sustain and build on her early buzz. Her first collection of stories, Total Immersion, was written while she was an undergraduate at Harvard, and she’s since published another collection and a couple of novels, including the remarkable Kaaterskill Falls (a National Book Award finalist). … Read more

While some artists can explore one theme or medium for years, Kiki Smith is notable for how far and wide she has ranged in her work. Despite its variety, you can see it shifting, in a sense, from the micro to the macro. In the eighties, Smith was sculpting individual body parts and organs, moving … Read more

Working in portraiture must be a little unnerving at times. Imagine all those eyes staring back at you in the darkroom. Perhaps that’s why Chris Felver, who is best known for his portraits of “creative revolutionaries” (writers, poets, filmmakers, actors, musicians, and protesters) turned his back on all those eyes and wandered outside. The latest … Read more

When your dad knows so much about antiques and fine art that people like Jackie Kennedy come to him seeking help in building their personal collections, you either watch closely and soak it all up, or rebel and become a stockbroker. Subhash Kapoor chose wisely, taking up where his father left off and cultivating an … Read more

The Mekons, who came roaring out of Leeds in the wake of British punk’s late-seventies explosion, remain shining exemplars of a band as a committed, progressive community. Jon Langford, a Mekons ringleader, is now rolling through his fourth decade of creating provocative and politically charged music and art. The man remains ridiculously busy, with various … Read more