Fiction

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Narratives of Freedom

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Narratives of Freedom Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Narratives of Freedom

History has always been a weapon in the hands of Ta-Nehisi Coates. Now, in his debut novel, the social critic and essayist sets out to recover those struggles for emancipation that...

Oct 29, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques

Zadie Smith’s Turn to Short Fiction

Zadie Smith’s Turn to Short Fiction Zadie Smith’s Turn to Short Fiction

In her first short story collection, the novelist and essayist offers us both cautionary tales and experimental riffs.

Oct 29, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Rumaan Alam

Jonathan Safran Foer and the Limits of Liberal Climate Politics

Jonathan Safran Foer and the Limits of Liberal Climate Politics Jonathan Safran Foer and the Limits of Liberal Climate Politics

Addressing climate change will take a whole lot more than changing our diets.

Oct 29, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Kate Aronoff

Even Straight People Will Know the ‘Call Me by Your Name’ Sequel Is Bad

Even Straight People Will Know the ‘Call Me by Your Name’ Sequel Is Bad Even Straight People Will Know the ‘Call Me by Your Name’ Sequel Is Bad

André Aciman’s Find Me reinforces what felt so lacking in his breakout hit.

Oct 25, 2019 / Sam Huber

For Yiyun Li, All Writing Is Autobiographical

For Yiyun Li, All Writing Is Autobiographical For Yiyun Li, All Writing Is Autobiographical

We had a wide ranging conversation with Li about her feelings on autofiction, bad readers, and why her work has yet to be translated into Chinese.  

Oct 21, 2019 / Q&A / Rosemarie Ho

Ben Lerner’s Quandary

Ben Lerner’s Quandary Ben Lerner’s Quandary

The Topeka School captures the novelist at a crossroads between politics and aesthetics, fiction and poetry.

Oct 14, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Evan Kindley

Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius

Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius

The award-winning cartoonist is not only a great artist but a wellspring of inspiration for others.

Sep 30, 2019 / Jeet Heer

Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation

Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation

In a new collection of his political writings, the Algerian novelist contemplates the unfinished business of his country’s struggle for independence.

Sep 30, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Robyn Creswell

The Maddening Genius of Lynne Tillman

The Maddening Genius of Lynne Tillman The Maddening Genius of Lynne Tillman

Her fiction and non-fiction explores, in exacting detail, the lives of obsessives, offering a window into the inner workings of particularly intense minds.

Sep 30, 2019 / Haley Mlotek

Margaret Atwood Shouldn’t Exonerate Aunt Lydia

Margaret Atwood Shouldn’t Exonerate Aunt Lydia Margaret Atwood Shouldn’t Exonerate Aunt Lydia

The Testaments, Atwood’s sequel to Handmaid’s Tale, gives undue credit to Gilead’s misogynistic female enabler.

Sep 19, 2019 / Column / Katha Pollitt

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