J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life
For the South African author, the selves we write and read may be truer than any other.
Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld
Rushdie Misses the Magic Rushdie Misses the Magic
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights has all the markers of a Salman Rushdie novel, but it’s not a great book.
Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier
December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born
“What [The Recognitions] lacks, like all claustrophobic works of art, is imagination.”
Dec 29, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
The Dickensian Politics of Trump and His Fellow Scrooges The Dickensian Politics of Trump and His Fellow Scrooges
Political misers still refuse to make it their business to improve the lot of the working poor.
Dec 24, 2015 / John Nichols
December 20, 1968: John Steinbeck Dies December 20, 1968: John Steinbeck Dies
“I have no doubt that, being human, he enjoys praise, but he has consistently shunned the mechanics and functionaries of publicity.”
Dec 20, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Finally, a Comic Series As Ridiculous as the 2016 GOP Field Finally, a Comic Series As Ridiculous as the 2016 GOP Field
A scandal-prone, dark-horse presidential candidate turned front-runner stars in Citizen Jack. Sound familiar?
Dec 3, 2015 / Loren A. Lynch
Border Characters Border Characters
The Mexican novelist Yuri Herrera talks about the first English translation of one of his novels, the Mexica afterlife, and Dante.
Dec 2, 2015 / Aaron Bady
November 28, 1960: Richard Wright Dies November 28, 1960: Richard Wright Dies
“Mr. Wright’s style often reminds one of a stream ‘riled’ by a heavy storm.”
Nov 28, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Real, Realist, Realistic, and False Real, Realist, Realistic, and False
Linda Rosenkrantz’s 1968 quasi-novel Talk reminds us that wry self-awareness and anxious fragility are hardly millennial inventions.
Nov 25, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld
Splinterlands: The View From 2050 Splinterlands: The View From 2050
A dystopian fictional tour of the world that awaits us.
Nov 10, 2015 / John Feffer