Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

This week on nybooks.com: Jessica Mathews on what’s really happening in Iraq, Garry Wills on the Vatican’s four big problems, Joost Hiltermann on the prospects for Kurdish independence, Sue Halpern on the NSA’s spying, and summer event recommendations in art, film, and more. We end with an essay by Nadine Gordimer, a contributor to the Review for many years, who died on Sunday. ​ THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY THE KNOPF DOUBLEDAY PUBLISHING GROUP

Iraq Illusions Jessica T. Mathews Many media accounts of the conflict in Iraq have been misleading, some outright wrong.   ADVERTISEMENT   Coming up in the August 14 issue: Tim Flannery on the Great Barrier Reef, Jonathan Freedland on liberal Zionists, Terry Castle on Siri Hustvedt, and Arnold Relman’s last review. Subscribe today.   The Pope and the Pederasts Garry Wills Pope Francis cannot restore trust in the priesthood without addressing four interlocking structural problems in the Vatican.   Kurdish Independence: Harder Than It Looks Joost Hiltermann Kirkuk shows just how challenging it would be to divide Iraq by ethnic and sectarian groups.   ADVERTISEMENT   Spying Without Looking Sue Halpern Articles in The Washington Post and The Intercept demonstrate, yet again, the value of independent investigative reporting.   J. Hoberman: A film series at MoMA focuses on Columbia’s crime movies, films noir, and B-movie franchises.   Daniela Bleichmar: Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar’s provocative work A Logo for America returns to Times Square.   Charles Simic: An exhibition at the Morgan contains nearly 100 first editions, manuscripts, notebooks, letters, and galley proofs.   Christopher Benfey: The new Andrew Wyeth exhibition at the National Gallery is built around a single, quiet motif: the window.   See more summer recommendations fromNew York Review contributors in thecalendar   ADVERTISEMENT   Living in the Interregnum Nadine Gordimer I live at 6,000 feet in a society whirling, stamping, swaying with the force of revolutionary change. The vision is heady; the image of the demonic dance is accurate, not romantic: an image of actions springing from emotion, knocking deliberation aside. (1983)