Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

David Foster Wallace and “Blurbspeak”
David Foster Wallace hated book blurbs — but his were fascinating.
Lucas ThompsonAug 9, 2015
- Literary Criticism
On Spinsters
The classic spinster challenges our understanding of love, sex, family, and power.
Briallen HopperJul 12, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Pistols at Dawn
John Leigh’s Touché: The Duel in Literature surveys literary duels from Pierre Corneille’s Le Cid to Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain.
Ivan KreilkampJun 28, 2015
- History
- Literary Criticism
Season of Saul
A review of the first volume of Zachary Leader's new biography of Saul Bellow.
Shehryar FazliJun 11, 2015
Writing About Not Writing
“The literary conceit I’m referring to could be thought of as an X-ray, or a negative, of the book-within-a-book device.”
Ruth MargalitMay 11, 2015
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
Stayed | Freedom | Hallelujah
Habeas Viscus is a book that offers us a vital framework for imagining a world where race — where human life — might be otherwise than it is.
Ashon T. CrawleyMay 10, 2015
- Literary Criticism
- Philosophy & Religion
The Mighty Mezz, Marijuana, and the Beat Generation
Mezz Mezzrow fostered a cannabis counterculture that got the Beat Generation writing.
Loren GlassMay 7, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Not Loving, Working!
"What is it about my profession, reading and thinking about books, that makes the categories of love and work so vulnerable to confusion?"
Christina LuptonMay 1, 2015
- Cultural Studies
- Literary Criticism
The Function of Criticism at the Present Time
Lauren Berlant is a critic’s critic, a feminist’s feminist, and a thinker’s friend.
Virginia JacksonApr 12, 2015
- Literary Criticism
“The Little Mermaid” and Other Tales of Becoming
Busting the myths of great literary heroines with playwright Samantha Ellis.
Miranda KennedyApr 7, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Form’s Function
“But Forms is less a defense than a redesign of formalism. Levine doesn’t call for a return to old-school aesthetic appreciation and apolitical close reading as a way to curb historicism run amok. Instead, as many critics have done before her, she looks beyond her discipline for a way around the whole formalism/historicism debate.”
David AlworthMar 20, 2015
- Literary Criticism
Not Only in the Dark
Rachel Pastan on Marjorie Sandor's anthology of eerie writing.
Rachel PastanMar 13, 2015
- Literary Criticism