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Daphne Merkin was a staff writer for The New Yorker and is currently a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and Elle. She is the author of a novel, Enchantment, and a collection of essays, Dreaming of Hitler.

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The Importance of Being Hannah

Banality of Evil

Daphne Merkin on a brilliant new film presenting Hannah Arendt in the midst of the Eichmann trial and the 'banality of evil.'

Daphne Merkin | Published Jun 04, 2013

The Liz and Dick Show

Review

Not even a mediocre film can erase the allure of the great romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Daphne Merkin on Lindsay Lohan’s star turn as ‘Liz.’

Daphne Merkin | Published Nov 25, 2012

Richard Burton’s Diaries Reveal His Mad Love for Liz Taylor

Liz and Dick

The great celebrity romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is intimately captured in his diaries.

AD BY The Daily Beast | Published Nov 03, 2012

The Yin and Yang of Marilyn

A new collection, Fragments, of the actress’ diaries reveals her dark, tortured soul, but there’s also a happier, more normal side that emerges here, says Daphne Merkin.

Daphne Merkin | Published Oct 20, 2010

Are Jews Really Liberal?

In time for the High Holidays, Daphne Merkin examines the hot air rhetoric in Norman Podhoretz’s new polemic, Why Are Jews Liberal?, and comes away unconvinced.

Daphne Merkin | Published Sep 19, 2009

Sex Scandal for the History Books

Masters and Johnson wrote the book on sex, and now a definitive biography of the duo reveals everything you wanted to know—and more— about their secret personal affair.

Daphne Merkin | Published Apr 30, 2009

Bright Nights, Shady City

Steve Gaines’ Fool’s Paradise delivers a full diet of South Beach lore and other Miami vices.

Daphne Merkin | Published Feb 12, 2009

John Updike's Final Chapter

Whether he was writing about sex, golf, or life in a small town, the fecund mind who gave the world Rabbit was never at rest. But why did readers seem to fall out of love with America’s everyman of letters?

Daphne Merkin | Published Jan 29, 2009

The Men on the Dais

An excerpt from Daphne Merkin’s novel, Enchantment.

Daphne Merkin | Published Jan 02, 2009

The Brotherhood of Money

Men like Bernie Madoff understand wealth. They understand power. And they prefer to keep women away from both.

Daphne Merkin | Published Jan 02, 2009

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