Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Relentless Erudition: On Seamus Deane’s “Small World: Ireland, 1798–2018”
The final collection of essays from a great Irish scholar.
Conor McCarthyNov 29, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Who Controls the Narrative?: On David M. Higgins’s “Reverse Colonization: Science Fiction, Imperial Fantasy, and Alt-Victimhood”
Higgins’s new book examines the reactionary imagination in contemporary science fiction.
Brian AtteberyNov 27, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Schadenfreude Without Shade
Josh Emmons tries to name an embarrassing feeling about art: the sad, amused, "not-schadenfreude" when excellent art is ignored.
Josh EmmonsNov 23, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Living in the World: Peter Brooks on Balzac
Balzac’s great “Comédie humaine” offers a middle way between speculative fiction and autofiction.
Elena Comay del JuncoNov 21, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Literature as System: On Yuri Tynianov
Marjorie Perloff revisits the criticism of Russian Formalist Yuri Tynianov, whose essays have been collected in English for the first time.
Marjorie PerloffOct 28, 2021
- Literary Criticism
A Labor We Will Never See
It is very hard to talk properly about money in relation to creative work.
Katie da Cunha LewinOct 27, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Love Objects: On the Poetry and Prose of Aaron Kunin
Griffin Shoglow-Rubenstein considers the “organizing concerns” of Aaron Kunin.
Griffin Shoglow-RubensteinOct 23, 2021
- Literary Criticism
The Naïf Goes to the Everything Store: On Mark McGurl’s “Everything and Less”
Dan Sinykin finds cautious hope in “Everything and Less: The Novel in the Age of Amazon” by Mark McGurl.
Dan SinykinOct 20, 2021
- Literary Criticism
The 14th-Century Sexual Revolution: On Guido Ruggiero’s “Love and Sex in the Time of Plague”
Dan Turello considers "Love and Sex in the Time of Plague," the recently published book by Guido Ruggiero.
Dan TurelloOct 20, 2021
- Literary Criticism
What Is Literature For?: A Symposium on Angus Fletcher’s “Wonderworks”
Keith P. Mankin, Ed Simon, and Erik J. Larson each review Angus Fletcher’s “Wonderworks,” and Fletcher responds.
Angus Fletcher, Ed Simon, Erik J. Larson, Keith P. MankinSep 26, 2021
- Literary Criticism
On Autotheory and Autofiction: Staking Genre
Teresa Carmody deliberates upon the feminist histories and radical possibilities of autotheory and autofiction.
Teresa CarmodySep 17, 2021
- Literary Criticism
Realist Magic
Francesco D’Isa is entranced by “Theatre, Magic and Philosophy” by Gabriela Dragnea Horvath.
Francesco D’IsaAug 22, 2021
- Literary Criticism