Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

• The Writing Life

  There is, Bukowski knew, an inimitable world between aspiration and success, a time to rage against the man, and a time to soften the blow.

  Geoff BendeckSep 4, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

• Good Literary Criticism: On the Crisis of Man

  What happened to the 20th century’s universal man?

  Mark GobleSep 4, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

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  Cold Opening: The Publicity Campaign for “Watchman”

  The publicity game and the death of book reviewing: why the semi-cold opening for "Watchman"?

  Greg BarnhiselAug 26, 2015

  • Fiction

  • Literary Criticism

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  The Writer Postponed: Barthes at the BnF

  Barthes at the BNF: the museum presents a panorama of his work.

  Andrew GallixAug 23, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

  • Philosophy & Religion

• Coorie Doon: Dirda’s Year of Reading

  Michael Dirda writes about reading, but do we want to read it?

  Susan McCallum-SmithAug 22, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

  • Memoir & Essay

  • Nonfiction

• Vladimir Nabokov, American Vagabond

  Vladimir Nabokov wasn’t born in the USA — and that made his take on America important.

  Boris DralyukAug 20, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

  • Literary Fiction

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  Translator’s Note

  "After all, there's always a recursive component to utterance."

  Amanda DeMarcoAug 13, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

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  David Foster Wallace and “Blurbspeak”

  David Foster Wallace hated book blurbs — but his were fascinating.

  Lucas ThompsonAug 9, 2015

  • Literary Criticism

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  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

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Fiction

  • Literary Criticism

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  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