Impossible Standards Impossible Standards
The poems and a new biography of James Laughlin tells of his public success as a publisher and his private disappointments.
Mar 4, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Adam Plunkett
James Joyce’s Untamable Power James Joyce’s Untamable Power
Censors thought it dirty and rebellious, but what makes Ulysses radical is its dramatization of the unending conflict between good and evil.
Jun 3, 2014 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach
A Minimum Wage for Writers? ‘The Nation’ (Almost) Proposed It In 1912. A Minimum Wage for Writers? ‘The Nation’ (Almost) Proposed It In 1912.
There is no avoiding the inherently alienating consequences of trying to earn a living through the production of words.
May 30, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner
University Presses Under Fire University Presses Under Fire
How the Internet and slashed budgets have endangered one of higher education’s most important institutions.
May 6, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman
The Brand Is My Business The Brand Is My Business
The only mystery about The Black-Eyed Blonde is when publishing derivative works became original.
Apr 22, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Sarah Weinman
Remembering André Schiffrin Remembering André Schiffrin
For decades, first at Pantheon and then at the New Press, he was a lion of progressive publishing.
Dec 18, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Victor Navasky
Here Comes Everybody Here Comes Everybody
Women writers are far outnumbered by men in magazines and book reviews, but why? Part of the answer lies in book publishing.
Nov 19, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Miriam Markowitz
Copyright Without Law? Copyright Without Law?
A legal quirk enabled Samuel Roth to pirate Ulysses. Was Roth a copyright anarchist or a pioneer?
Oct 1, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Caleb Crain
Rising Above the Failure of Imagination Rising Above the Failure of Imagination
The conversation about diversity in Science Fiction & Fantasy reveals how racism constrains even imagination.
Sep 10, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Roxane Gay
Safety Net: On Thomas Bernhard and Siegfried Unseld Safety Net: On Thomas Bernhard and Siegfried Unseld
In his writing and life, Thomas Bernhard led a charge in the opposite direction. His publisher always broke his fall.
Jan 30, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Holly Case