Toward a Useful Melancholy: On Howard Norman’s Ghost Stories
Mark Athitakis assesses one of our most intelligent novelists of melancholy, Howard Norman.
Fiction
"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." — Mark Twain
Sally Rooney: The Dark Side
Sally Rooney is trying to tell us something. Politics are in the forefront, but I’m guessing there is a dark secret lurking in the background.
What Is Not Said: On Natalia Ginzburg’s “The Dry Heart” and “Happiness, as Such”
Victoria Baena examines two recently reissued novels by Natalia Ginzburg: "The Dry Heart" and "Happiness, as Such."
Trading in the Emotional Economy: On Elvia Wilk’s “Oval”
Elvia Wilk's new novel, "Oval," is a blistering diagnosis of how today’s social structures have shaped us.
Wonderful Chaos: On “Home Remedies: Stories” by Xuan Juliana Wang
Carol Muske-Dukes tries out “Home Remedies” by Xuan Juliana Wang.
“Dungeons & Dragons” and Baseball; or, Robert Coover Fights the Robot Umps
Ryan Lackey considers baseball, robots, and collaborative storytelling.
Hearing a Way Forward: On Caitlin Horrocks’s “The Vexations”
Rachel Duboff considers “The Vexations” by Caitlin Horrocks.
Iran Under Pressure, Again: What a 50-Year-Old Persian Classic Tells Us About the Country’s Predicament Today
Joobin Bekhrad finds new geopolitical relevance in Simin Daneshvar’s classic Iranian novel “Savushun,” first published in 1969.
The Children of No-Man’s Land: On Valeria Luiselli’s “Lost Children Archive” and the Problem of Representing the Migrant Story
Jess Cotton takes up Valeria Luiselli’s “Lost Children Archive” and the challenge of representing the migrant experience.
Melville and the Media: A Conversation with Bernhard Siegert, Markus Krajewski, and Harun Maye
Bryan Norton talks to German scholars Bernhard Siegert, Markus Krajewski, and Harun Maye, authors of an ongoing commentary to Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick.”
No Firm Fortress, No Retreat: Reading, and Mourning, “Moby-Dick” on the Cusp of Climate Catastrophe
Reading Melville’s “Moby-Dick” on the author’s 200th birthday, Kathleen Rooney mourns all that climate catastrophe will take from us.
Life in the Holding Pen: A Conversation with Ryan Chapman
David Breithaupt speaks to Ryan Chapman, author of “Riots I Have Known.”
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