Crowds, conspiracies, consumer society, and futile attempts to thwart despair -- these are the trademark features of the work of Don DeLillo, a prolific American novelist at the edge of contemporary trends. DeLillo is undoubtedly an ironist, as his characters relentlessly mock their relation to

Catastrophe, Death, Ironic, Neo-ironic, Postmodern fiction, Smart, Witty

Rachel Rosenthal spent her early childhood in pre-war Paris among the Monets, Chagalls, and Pissarros in her family's art collection. Her parents, frustrated artists themselves, gave her ballet and painting lessons, and when the war struck, they sent her to the High School of Music and Art in New Yor

Catastrophe, Collage, Improvised, Political, Solo performance

Anxiety, Catastrophe, Ecstatic, Epic, Existentialist literature, High realism, Joyful, Manic, Psychological

Shostakovich is often, in musical circles, called the greatest composer of the twentieth century. Yet the quality of his music is so uneven that, while a third of it is the brain-bombing work of a divine genius, another third is almost worthless, and another third scares young violinists into abandon

20th-century music, Catastrophe, Lyrical, Melancholy, Moody, Pathos, Visceral