The Renunciation Artist: On Leo Tolstoy The Renunciation Artist: On Leo Tolstoy
The axis of moral struggle, a stroke of salvation--these are the spiritual dimensions of Tolstoy's late fiction.
Feb 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Telling It Slant: On J.M. Coetzee Telling It Slant: On J.M. Coetzee
J.M. Coetzee's Summertime and the fictions of self-deception.
Jan 28, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Joanna Scott
Permanent Exile: On Marie Vieux-Chauvet Permanent Exile: On Marie Vieux-Chauvet
In Love, Anger, Madness, Marie Vieux-Chauvet explores the choking fear of life under "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
Jan 14, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Madison Smartt Bell
After Macondo: On Evelio Rosero After Macondo: On Evelio Rosero
In Evelio Rosero's The Armies, war is like the Law in Kafka: cruel, implacable and coldly divine.
Jan 7, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Ben Ehrenreich
History Unforeseen: On Sylvia Townsend Warner History Unforeseen: On Sylvia Townsend Warner
In the fiction of Sylvia Townsend Warner, historical change is accidental and almost imperceptible, but for all that no less decisive.
Jan 7, 2010 / Books & the Arts / David Carroll Simon
Sometimes a Small Redemption: On Ludmilla Petrushevskaya Sometimes a Small Redemption: On Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
For Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, the fantastical is always found in the startling, dark and unfathomable episodes of daily life.
Dec 2, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Alexandra Schwartz
Like Lives: On Lorrie Moore Like Lives: On Lorrie Moore
A 9/11 story modeled on Jane Eyre, A Gate at the Stairs is Lorrie Moore's most ambitious novel, and her slipperiest work to date.
Dec 2, 2009 / Books & the Arts / David Wallace-Wells
Novelist From Another Planet: On Horacio Castellanos Moya Novelist From Another Planet: On Horacio Castellanos Moya
Horacio Castellanos Moya has turned anxiety into an art form and put El Salvador on the literary map.
Nov 24, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Natasha Wimmer
Evicted From His Own Head: On Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky Evicted From His Own Head: On Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
In the stories of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, the landscape of the Russian revolution is hostile territory, and terrifying in its scope.
Nov 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Elaine Blair
Linguistic Currency Linguistic Currency
In an information economy, tiny asymmetries in language comprehension translate into vast profits--and large-scale collapses.
Nov 3, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko