Our Own Device
Michael Schmidt’s biography of the novel is uplifting, proving that the novel is here to stay.
Michael Schmidt’s biography of the novel is uplifting, proving that the novel is here to stay.
Drew CalvertJul 9, 2014
Ann Gelder on writing for the present and Yuri Olesha’s memoir-in-fragments, "No Day Without a Line."
Ann GelderJul 3, 2014
On "My Struggle: Boyhood Island," which explores the pains & pleasures of boyhood. You can’t choose your parents, as they say, and that means...
Mark SussmanJun 5, 2014
Now that Salinger is gone, people can freely reminisce.
Molly PuldaJun 3, 2014
Standard biographies arrange lives into digestible arcs of story. We know from the outset that this memoir of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan will be...
Ronjaunee ChatterjeeJun 1, 2014
“I come first, second, and third. Then nothing, then again I; and then all the others.”
Peter TrachtenbergMay 15, 2014
A new biography on Walter Benjamin lays out his major works as part of an evolution of thought.
Colin DickeyMay 14, 2014
A MAN CALLED DESTRUCTION records the life of pop idol-turned-cult hero Alex Chilton. “In titling his 1995 album A Man Called Destruction — his last...
Robert ReaMay 10, 2014
Gina Apostle is currently working on a novel about the Philippine-American war, William McKinley’s World.
Gina ApostolMar 4, 2014
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN EASIER to admire the idea of Prince than the music of Prince. Mastering every aspect of music — its making and its marketing — he...
Lary WallaceJul 1, 2013
BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING about William (“Gatz”) Hjortsberg’s massive biography of writer Richard Brautigan, Jubilee Hitchhiker, I should probably first...
Stan PerskyAug 30, 2012
since it’s Wilder we’re talking about, there’s an anecdotal surplus unmatched in any history of the motion pictures.
Noah IsenbergMar 27, 2012
as any devotee might tell you, the woman makes a slippery subject.
Eli DinerMar 26, 2012
Since Ebert’s prime, everything has changed.
Swati PandeyMar 14, 2012
A MERE 60 YEARS AGO, at the front end of my love-hate affair with the published word, I went to work for my first "real" newspaper, an actual evening...
Mort PerskyJan 27, 2012
DC DIRECT, THE MERCHANDIZING ARM of publisher DC Comics, produces a line of collectible busts called "Heroes of the DC Universe." Apparently...
Evie NagyJan 12, 2012
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE READING writers on writers, and this Penguin series, first published at the turn of this century, contains some gems, including...
Susan Salter ReynoldsJan 7, 2012
JAMES JOYCE, POOR JOIST, a funnominal man, supporting a gay house in a slum of despond." Edna O'Brien lays it on a little thicker than Smiley...
Susan Salter ReynoldsJan 7, 2012
By 1927 Rinty was designated “the most popular performer in the U.S.” but was also named as the correspondent in a divorce.
Merrill MarkoeOct 10, 2011
AMONG LETTERS BY PROMINENT ARTISTS, annals by American visual artists are rare. Now comes a compelling text — the vibrant, at times frankly sexual...
Nancy BarnesAug 11, 2011
Do these performances tacitly acknowledge the darkest side of the American character? Or are they merely manifestations of Bogart's own dark side?
Richard SchickelApr 29, 2011