Ted Chiang’s Sci-Fi Goes Beyond the Promise of Technology Ted Chiang’s Sci-Fi Goes Beyond the Promise of Technology
In his short story collection Exhalation, he builds social worlds where every character and object is deeply intertwined in history and in future possibility.
Nov 19, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
‘The Inheritance’ Takes E.M. Forster Out of the Closet ‘The Inheritance’ Takes E.M. Forster Out of the Closet
Bringing Howards End into today’s gay Manhattan, playwright Matthew Lopez shows that “Only Connect” is still a radical message.
Nov 12, 2019 / Feature / Darryl Pinckney
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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