Making Strange: On Victor Shklovsky Making Strange: On Victor Shklovsky
A Russian novelist’s fight, in life and art, to see the world afresh in all its cruelty and splendor.
Feb 5, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Ben Ehrenreich
Till the Knowing Ends: On William Gass Till the Knowing Ends: On William Gass
In Life Sentences, William Gass shows that consciousness needs to be stressed to be strengthened.
Mar 7, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Joanna Scott
Reading John Leonard: A Tribute Reading John Leonard: A Tribute
For the critic John Leonard, “books are where we go alone to complicate ourselves.”
Feb 7, 2012 / Books & the Arts / E.L. Doctorow
The Idler: On Geoff Dyer The Idler: On Geoff Dyer
Freedom to do just what he pleases defines the life and writing of Geoff Dyer.
Apr 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman
Back Talk: Terry Castle Back Talk: Terry Castle
A conversation with the author of The Professor about her affair with an older woman and the journals of Susan Sontag.
Jan 28, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Christine Smallwood
Adaptation: On Literary Darwinism Adaptation: On Literary Darwinism
If art is a product of the mind, and the mind a product of evolution, is art a product of evolution?
May 20, 2009 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
Into the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis’s Narnia Into the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis’s Narnia
Laura Miller's study of C.S. Lewis falls short of providing a coherent theory of Narnia's magic.
May 6, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Jordan Davis
Back Talk: Elaine Showalter Back Talk: Elaine Showalter
A conversation with the author of A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx.
Mar 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Christine Smallwood
An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics
Unraveling the Kafkaesque mystique of Franz Kafka.
Feb 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Provan
Trilling’s Sandbags: Lionel Trilling’s Critical Essays Trilling’s Sandbags: Lionel Trilling’s Critical Essays
Re-reading a literary critic who regarded intelligence as a moral imperative.
Dec 3, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Stefan Collini