All Essays

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  Not Pretty: On Edith Wharton and Jonathan Franzen

  Do we even have to say that physical beauty is beside the point when discussing the work of a major author?

  Victoria PattersonFeb 25, 2012
• 

  The Exegete

  Crazy people generally don’t know they’re crazy and Dick’s abiding awareness of the dubious nature of his visions makes him at worst a pathetic figure

  Rob LathamFeb 24, 2012
• 

  Strange Bedfellows

  on Christianity and homosexuality

  Briallen HopperFeb 23, 2012
• 

  Paperback Writers: Georges Simenon

  Simenon was a relentless self-mythologizer, but a pitiless self-analyzer too.

  Richard RaynerFeb 18, 2012
• 

  Golden Eye

  It blasts open new tunnels between the mind and The Other, tunnels not easily sealed by the censorious henchmen of fading paradigms.

  Ross AndersenFeb 15, 2012
• 

  The Marriage Prop

  The Prop 8 trial is, in fact, one of the greatest stories of our time.

  Audrey BilgerFeb 12, 2012
• 

  Real Penguins in Imaginary Apartments

  on Andrey Kurkov’s oddball Russian crime fiction.

  Anthony OlcottFeb 11, 2012
• 

  Life in Storage: Of Capitalism and A&E's "Storage Wars"

  On the American culture of accumulation,

  
  

  and the author's addiction to A&E’s "Storage Wars."

  Peggy KamufFeb 4, 2012
• 

  The Wages of Narrative

  Louis Menand’s 'The Metaphysical Club' and Alex Ross’s 'The Rest is Noise' make intellectual history into page-turners.

  John Durham PetersFeb 1, 2012
• 

  Crete Spring: An Appreciation for James Hillman (1926–2011)

  Louise SteinmanJan 29, 2012
• 

  Hell, Hurt, Blood, and Rapture

  Noir books by Jake Hinkson, John Rector, Reed Farrel Coleman, Alan Glynn, and Harry Whittington.

  Jan 23, 2012
• 

  Letter From Detroit

  For every abandoned business, store, school, or church in the city, a new one has been built in the suburbs.

  Ingrid NortonJan 16, 2012
• 

  Love, Boxing, and Hunter S. Thompson, Part 2

  I decided to get high.

  John KayeJan 15, 2012
• 

  Love, Boxing, and Hunter S. Thompson, Part 1

  His last words to me as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway were: "Feel free to use any of this in the script."

  John KayeJan 15, 2012
• 

  Impersonating Ourselves

  It's no wonder that we are often confused by impostors, delighted by sock puppets, and relieved — most of us, anyway — that we remain singular.

  Matthew SpecktorJan 14, 2012
• 

  The Fire This Time: On 9/11 in the Long Term

  Reza AslanJan 9, 2012