Literary Criticism

Carlos Bulosan’s 1946 Novel About Filipino Migrant Workers Is Still Groundbreaking

Carlos Bulosan’s 1946 Novel About Filipino Migrant Workers Is Still Groundbreaking Carlos Bulosan’s 1946 Novel About Filipino Migrant Workers Is Still Groundbreaking

When we read a book like America Is in the Heart, we have the chance to be not just readers of American history’s horrors, but its witnesses and inheritors.

May 1, 2019 / Elaine Castillo

Rediscovering Nelson Algren

Rediscovering Nelson Algren Rediscovering Nelson Algren

The literary giant’s unique resonance in our anti-capitalist moment.

Mar 19, 2019 / Dan Simon

Hunting for Lions and Liberation

Hunting for Lions and Liberation Hunting for Lions and Liberation

Rachel Ingalls’s 1983 novel Binstead’s Safari is a fable-like account of the price of feminism and the freedom from domesticity.

Mar 13, 2019 / Maya Binyam

A Style Guide for the 1 Percent

A Style Guide for the 1 Percent A Style Guide for the 1 Percent

The new grammar and usage handbook by Benjamin Dreyer, Twitter’s premier grammarian, reinforces an elitist view of writing and language.

Feb 11, 2019 / Kyle Paoletta

Kanye West

Kanye’s Discontents Kanye’s Discontents

At his best, Kanye West could be something of a Walt Whitman with Pro Tools. His new album, Ye, sadly feels like something halted in mid-sentence.

Jun 8, 2018 / David Hajdu

Finding a Way Back Home

Finding a Way Back Home Finding a Way Back Home

The many Philip Roths.

May 25, 2018 / David Marcus

The Turmoil of Fearful Anticipation

The Turmoil of Fearful Anticipation The Turmoil of Fearful Anticipation

Many of the stories in Dino Buzzati’s Catastrophe are more concerned with paranoia and fear than with dramatic repercussions.

May 9, 2018 / Bradley Babendir

Joseph Conrad and the Dawn of Globalization

Joseph Conrad and the Dawn of Globalization Joseph Conrad and the Dawn of Globalization

What passes for civilization is often just refined savagery.

May 3, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Greg Grandin

Harry Mathews’s Framed Stories

Harry Mathews’s Framed Stories Harry Mathews’s Framed Stories

Multiple meanings always simmer under the surface of his writing, but in The Solitary Twin, they’re more hidden.

Apr 16, 2018 / Alina Cohen

Clarice Lispector’s Lifelong Project

Clarice Lispector’s Lifelong Project Clarice Lispector’s Lifelong Project

At the core of Clarice Lispector’s works is the tension between language’s profound potential and its inability to reach the vital realm of the unspeakable.

Mar 30, 2018 / Nathan Goldman

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