Fiction

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." — Mark Twain

Irony: Truth’s Disguise
Irony states the opposite of what it intends to mean. But what if no one spots it and takes the ironic statement literally?
Brian FinneyJun 20, 2016
- Fiction
The Internet-y Novel
A cautionary tale of love and internet celebrity.
Houman BarekatJun 19, 2016
- Fiction
The Course of Love: A Crash Course in the Long-Term Relationship
In "The Course of Love", Alain de Botton debunks the myth of “happily ever after”.
Yoona LeeJun 19, 2016
- Fiction
Look at Your Game, Girl
Emma Cline’s “The Girls” is the coming-of-age story of a 14-year-old girl who falls in with a Manson-like cult just months before a night of brutal murders.
Joselyn TakacsJun 14, 2016
- Fiction
Blowing Up Rusty War Tropes and Bolstering the Female Combatant: A Conversation with Whitney Terrell
Whitney Terrell on breaking the traditional form of the war novel.
Anne KniggendorfJun 11, 2016
- Fiction
Slavery and the Weight of the Past
A review of Yaa Gyasi's new novel "Homegoing."
Mike BroidaJun 11, 2016
- Fiction
What We Talk About When We Talk About Art
Julian Barnes represents the art world, in fiction and nonfiction.
Rebecca J. NovelliJun 10, 2016
- Fiction
Travels in the Interior
Budget travel tips from an 18th-century aristocrat.
Daniel ElkindJun 9, 2016
- Fiction
- SF
Islam Hasn’t Had Our Friedrich Schleiermacher: A Conversation with Ayad Akhtar
Jabeen Akhtar interviews playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar.
Jabeen AkhtarJun 8, 2016
- Fiction
The Emerging Genre of Slut Lit
The emerging genre of Slut Lit reminds us how women’s bodies have always been a sort of Rorschach test for society’s deeper anxieties about women’s roles.
Joy HorowitzJun 7, 2016
- Fiction
Everybody Wants a Piece of Milton
A review of Jennifer Wallace's new novel about the fate of John Milton’s corpse.
Erik GrayJun 6, 2016
- Fiction
The Bible According to Dr. Mary
"The medieval argument for God’s existence is God defined as that which there is nothing greater than ... I think it’s a cogent argument 700 years later."
Nancy SpillerJun 5, 2016
- Fiction