National Review Round-Up

The National Review Online delivers two excellent arts-related stories today. The first is by I Wear the Maternity Pants in this Family author Susan Konig. Her unintentionally funny article discusses the valuable lessons of chivalry put forth by Twilight's hunky lead Edward Cullen:

But do boys like Edward Cullen exist only in fiction or in the realm of the undead?

As the mom of three young boys, I hope not. Meanwhile, our girls can dream. And real boys in their age group might want to sneak a copy of Twilight and learn what girls expect of you.

The next is Thomas Hibbs' piece on outgoing National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dana Gioia. It is one of those great National Review pieces that politicizes everything and vilifies the Left, but is interesting nonetheless.

Whatever the future of the NEA holds — and it is a serious question whether the incoming Democratic regime will encourage the agency to rebuild its reputation for smut and filth — Gioia’s leadership has been much more than a welcome reprieve from the assault on common sensibilities.

Click here for the rest of Hibbs' piece.