“Rummaging Through Rauschenberg's Trash." Modern Painters. July/August 2008. 73-75
“Ghost Stories for the Very Adult.”  The Believer.  January 2008.  Volume 6, Number 1.  26-30.
"Readymade Remade: Pierre Pinoncelli and the Legacy of Duchamp's 'Fountains.'" Cabinet. Number 27. Winter 2007. 27-32.
"Being There. On the trail of Heidegger." Cabinet. Number 25. Spring 2007. 44-51
[Essay on life, philosphy and the woodland retreat of Martin Heidegger.]

“Iambic Imbroglio. Wrangling Over the Claims of Readers—and Dead Poets.” Harvard Magazine. January-February 2007. 20-21.

[Article discussing Elizabeth Bishop's posthumous poetry.]
"The Insider: Jonathan Littell's Les Bienveillantes."  Bookforum.  December/January 2007.

“Cult of Impersonality.” The Boston Globe. Ideas section. D2. July 2, 2006.

[Article discussing Samuel Beckett's literary fame—and his ambivalent feelings about that fame.]

“Our Signature Tower.” The Boston Globe. Ideas section C2. May 14, 2006.
“Stars and Snipes.”  Bookforum. April/May 2006.  7
[Interview with Bernard-Henri Lévy concerning his American Vertigo:  Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville.]

“Nevermind Euclid, Here's the Cubists.” The Boston Globe. Ideas section. D2. December 25, 2005

[Article on the origins of Cubism.]

“Swinging and Nothingness.” Village Voice. December 23, 2005

[Article on the lives of French philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre, Descartes and Pascal.]

“The Original of Lolita. Fifty years after that triple trip of the tongue, Nabokov's nymphet is as mesmerizing as ever.” Village Voice September 9, 2005

[Article on the various influences—and claims to influence—on Nabokov's Lolita.]

“The seduction. At 50, Nabokov's 'Lolita' still seduces -- and disturbs.” Boston Sunday Globe. August 28, 2005. Ideas section. (syndicated by the Belgian daily De Standaard and the Australian weekly The Weekend Australian)

[Article on the reception of Lolita.]

“The Omen. What's in a name?” Village Voice. August 5, 2005

[Article on Pope Benedict XVI and the history of papal naming.]

“Pope and Circumstance. When the pontiff dies, the rituals commence.” Village Voice April 11, 2005
[Article on the history of papal successions.]

“Of Spirit” Village Voice. November 16, 2004.

[Article on Jacques Derrida and his Parisian seminars.]
Book Review of Michael Gorra's The Bells in Their Silence. Travels Through Germany (Princeton University Press) and Steven Ozment's A Mighty Fortress : A New History of the German People (Harper-Collins). Rain Taxi. Fall 2004.

“The Devils of Tennis.” Boston Sunday Globe. July 4 th , 2004. Ideas section. G4.

[Article reviewing the history of tennis writing—from 13 th century theological treatises to contemporary autobiographies by John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase and Boris Becker.]

“Doing the Nasty. Who's that with Bubba? A fellow memoirist—and Wimbledon bad boy—returns.” Village Voice. June 28th, 2004

[Article discussing books—autobiographical and other—on tennis.]

“The Cleansing of the Elephants. Trumpeting, flapping, crying: a cultural history of the elephant from Ding Yunpeng to Gus Van Sant.” Village Voice. November 17th, 2003.

“Murder in the Library.” Boston Sunday Globe. Novembre 2, 2003. Ideas section. G2-G3.

[Article discussing the genre of academic detective fiction.]

“The Man Who Fell to Earth.” Boston Sunday Globe. June 29th, 2003. Ideas section. D2-D3

[Article treating unlikely connections between German skydivers, politicians and performance artists.]

“It Came From the Abyss: Can Philosophy Be Filmed?” Boston Sunday Globe. February 2, 2003. Ideas section. D4.

[Article on the documentary film Derrida, and the compatibility of Derrida's philosophy with the filmmakers' task.]