Not the Word, but the Thing Itself Not the Word, but the Thing Itself
With each successive work, Clarice Lispector polished her prose until it shimmered with a taut irregularity.
Nov 5, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ava Kofman
Her Writing Knows Things About Us That Most of Us Will Never Imagine Her Writing Knows Things About Us That Most of Us Will Never Imagine
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of Jessica Hagedorn’s groundbreaking novel Dogeaters.
Oct 30, 2015 / Walter Mosley
October 18, 1851: Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ Is Published October 18, 1851: Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’ Is Published
“Born in hell-fire, and baptized in an unspeakable name, ‘Moby-Dick’ reads like a great opium dream.”
Oct 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Rot as Rapture, Filth as Rebellion Rot as Rapture, Filth as Rebellion
In Ottessa Moshfegh’s first full-length novel, the allure of dissolution is that it demands nothing.
Oct 15, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Katie Ryder
Jonathan Franzen Withdraws Jonathan Franzen Withdraws
Why are the agonized liberals in Purity so skeptical of political conviction?
Oct 8, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Jon Baskin
Literature as Map to Liberty Literature as Map to Liberty
In John Keene’s ambitious new volume of stories, resistance is required because exile isn’t an option.
Oct 1, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ben Ehrenreich
A Stage Across the Sea A Stage Across the Sea
An unjustly-neglected Libyan novelist captured the twisted logic of colonialism, past and present.
Oct 1, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ursula Lindsey
September 26, 1888: T.S. Eliot Is Born September 26, 1888: T.S. Eliot Is Born
“Even the creative imagination, hallucination and vision have atrophied, so that water shall never again be struck from a rock in the desert.”
Sep 26, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Romancing the Remains Romancing the Remains
A tubercular Surrealist describes his convalescence. What could go right?
Sep 24, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ricky D’Ambrose
Conditions of Emergence: On Elena Ferrante Conditions of Emergence: On Elena Ferrante
In the pseudonymous author’s Neapolitan Novels, the price of leaving Naples is that you can never be at home again.
Sep 24, 2015 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz