Consider the Octopus

Plus: Mexico's Disappeared; Prigozhin's Mercenaries; King Lear in China; The Supreme Court's Cruelty ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sponsored by The Authors Guild Foundation   Today in The New York Review of Books: Verlyn Klinkenborg considers the octopus; Marcela Turati memorializes the disappeared in Mexico; Joshua Hammer follows the Wagner Group’s trail of carnage across Africa and Ukraine; Catherine Nicholson studies King Lear alongside Chinese scholars; Duncan Hosie details the cruelty of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow ICE to detain people based on their physical appearance; a poem by Jane Hirshfield; and, from the archives, a Russian Futurist poem about autumn.   Verlyn Klinkenborg ‘Such Flexible Intensity of Life’ Their striking intelligence makes octopuses tempting subjects for wishful anthropomorphism and uncanny reminders of nature’s mysteries.     Advertisement   Marcela Turati, translated by Will Noah Looking for Alicia Finding a disappeared person in Mexico is like chasing a ghost through a labyrinth.   Joshua Hammer Slaughter for Hire From Africa to Ukraine, the rise and fall of the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was marked by theatrical violence, the seizure of resources, and an utter lack of accountability.     Advertisement   Catherine Nicholson The Cares of State The scholar Nan Z. Da reveals how naturally Chinese history can be read through the cruelty and corruption in King Lear.   Cows Lying Down a poem by Jane Hirshfield A Holstein cow lying down— it would seem impossible for such an awkward shape to return to standing…   Duncan Hosie The End of Equity By effectively sanctioning ICE’s raids in Los Angeles, the Supreme Court is showing its readiness to discard centuries of equitable tradition in law.     Advertisement   Free from the Archives Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, the beginning of the steady descent to winter and afternoon sunsets. In the Review’s October 10, 1985, issue, we published a new translation of a 1915 poem by the Russian Futurist Velimir Khlebnikov about the anxiety of the season. Poem by Velimir Khlebnikov, translated by Paul Schmidt Autumn that year was a rabbit affair and no eye could distinguish the shivering season from the shaking beast. Shifty, all yellow, autumn-dweller color....   Is America Abandoning Immigrants? Mass Deportation and Resistance Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM EDT The New York Review of Books presents a series of online talks hosted by our Advising Editor, Fintan O’Toole. For our first fall event, New York Review contributors Francisco Cantú, Caroline Moorehead, and Julia Preston join O’Toole for a wide-ranging conversation about America’s treatment of immigrants. The event is pay-what-you-wish. Register Today!     Special Offer Subscribe for just $1 an issue and receive a FREE 2025 calendar Get the deal Politics   Literature   Arts   Ideas You are receiving this message because you signed up for email newsletters from The New York Review. Update your address or preferences View this newsletter online The New York Review of Books 207 East 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016-6305       Preferences  |  Unsubscribe