Wednesday's Notes

Errol Morris,"Photography as a Weapon," Zoom, 11 August, explores visual propaganda.

Christopher Taylor,"Blame It on Boswell," Guardian, 9 August, reviews Peter Martin's Samuel Johnson: A Biography.

Paul Harvey,"Freedom Song," Books & Culture, July/August, reviews Scott Gac's Singing for Freedom: The Hutchinson Family Singers and the Nineteenth-Century Culture of Antebellum Reform.

Félix Fénéon's Novels in Three Lines, translated and with an introduction by Luc Sante, is briefly reviewed in the NYRB, 21 August. Writing for the liberal broadsheet Le Matin, Fénéon composed over a thousand quick sketches of"murder, mayhem, and everyday life" in early 20th century France and gathered them in his Novels in Three Lines. You can sample them on Twitter. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.