Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Finding My Way: A Conversation with Alden Jones
Dinah Lenney talks with Alden Jones about her latest book, “The Wanting Was a Wilderness.”
Dinah LenneySep 4, 2020
A Hope Machine: On Jeffrey Brooks’s “The Firebird and the Fox: Russian Culture under Tsars and Bolsheviks”
Caryl Emerson pursues “The Firebird and the Fox: Russian Culture under Tsars and Bolsheviks” by Jeffrey Brooks.
Caryl EmersonSep 2, 2020
Heartbroken Patriots
Greil Marcus’s new book interrogates American myths of success and belonging via adaptations and revisionings of “The Great Gatsby.”
Robert LossAug 29, 2020
Beats and All
Loren Glass reviews "The Beats: A Literary History," a new book by Steven Belletto.
Loren GlassAug 17, 2020
The Last of the Hedgehogs
A collection of scintillating interviews with a celebrated French cultural theorist.
Chris FlemingAug 16, 2020
- Literary Criticism
- Philosophy & Religion
An Experimental Biography: John Schad’s “Paris Bride: A Modernist Life”
Is John Schad’s family archive as fictitious as, say, Clarissa Dalloway? And does it matter?
Gerri KimberAug 15, 2020
- Biography & Autobiography
- Literary Criticism
Rapt Rereadings
Viv Groskop’s new book is a passionate love letter to the classics of French literature.
Bob BlaisdellAug 14, 2020
Gimme More: On Sianne Ngai’s “Theory of the Gimmick”
Andrew Koenig reviews "Theory of the Gimmick," the new book from Sianne Ngai.
Andrew KoenigAug 10, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Literary Criticism
Believing in Literature
Tomas Weber reviews Victoria Kahn’s “The Trouble with Literature.”
Tomas WeberAug 3, 2020
- Literary Criticism
Showdown at the Translation Saloon: On Lawrence Venuti’s “Contra Instrumentalism: A Translation Polemic”
Jan Steyn takes on “Contra Instrumentalism: A Translation Polemic” by Lawrence Venuti.
Jan SteynAug 2, 2020
On Dennis Cooper and Becoming-Nothing
Jonathan Alexander reviews "Wrong," the new biography of Dennis Cooper by Diarmuid Hester.
Jonathan AlexanderJul 29, 2020
In Search of Shakespeare’s Mind
Daniel Blank ponders "How to Think Like Shakespeare," the new book from Scott Newstok.
Daniel BlankJul 28, 2020