Warhol, by Blake Gopnik. Ecco. 976 pages. $45. One thing I miss is the time when America had big dreams about the future. Now it seems like nobody has big hopes for the future. We all seem to think ...

I am sitting on a cream leather couch in this war-torn chamber painted a color called Hague Blue. It is my living room. This is my sofa. I painted the room, which is also a footpath connecting the two ...