The First Anthology: 30 Years of the New York Review of Books

Addressing politics and culture in essays both analytical and personal, these 23 pieces provide an absorbing and varied sample of the NYRB 's intellectual engagement. Some are famous: Hannah Arendt's ``Reflections on Violence'' and Susan Sontag's ``On Photography.'' Andrei Sakharov's contribution traces the roots of his dissent, while Dwight MacDonald deftly describes President Johnson's attempt to curry favor with the arts elite. Pierre Boulez assays Mahler; Richard Ellman honors Joyce; Robert Hughes dissects Warhol. Most resonant are closely observed personal reports by Oliver Sacks of his accident and delayed rescue on a Norwegian mountain, and Primo Levi's memoir of his last Christmas at Auschwitz. While the journal was a staunch critic of presidents Reagan and Bush, only Joan Didion's ironic 1982 portrait of El Salvador, where U.S. aid propped up a corrupt government, touches on that era. Despite the subtitle, the anthology is limited to essays from the years 1965 to 1986. Silvers and Epstein are editors of the Review ; Hederman is the publisher. (Sept.)