Nonfiction

"There is nothing more poetic and terrible than the skyscrapers' battle with the heavens that cover them." — Federico García Lorca

Hollywood on Hollywood: On Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson’s Oral History “Hollywood”
Chris Yogerst reviews Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson’s “Hollywood: The Oral History.”
Chris YogerstDec 5, 2022
Naming Names: On A. N. Wilson’s “Confessions”
Timothy Larsen reviews A. N. Wilson’s “Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises.”
Timothy LarsenDec 4, 2022
The Masks of Xi Jinping: On Alfred L. Chan’s “Xi Jinping” and Joseph Torigian’s “Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion”
Who is Xi Jinping and what comes after? Martin Laflamme reviews Alfred L. Chan’s biography of Xi Jinping and Joseph Torigian’s study of power struggles in the Soviet Union and the PRC.
Martin LaflammeDec 2, 2022
California, Coming Home: On Julia Scheeres and Allison Gilbert’s “Listen, World!”
Lauren Arrington considers a biography of influential newspaper columnist Elsie Robinson, “Listen, World! How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman” by Julia Scheeres and Allison Gilbert.
Lauren ArringtonNov 28, 2022
Nada Que Ver: On Julián Cardona and Alice Leora Briggs’s “Abecedario de Juárez”
José Luis Benavides reviews “Abecedario de Juárez: An Illustrated Lexicon” by Julián Cardona and Alice Leora Briggs, with translations by Alice L. Driver.
José Luis BenavidesNov 21, 2022
The Legacy of a Caged Bird: On Gene Andrew Jarrett’s “Paul Laurence Dunbar”
Vesper North considers Gene Andrew Jarrett’s updated biography, “Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird.”
Vesper NorthNov 17, 2022
Going Coastal: On Some Recent Books About the Ecology and History of Beaches
Daniela Blei explores the paradoxes constituted by “the beach” — an allegedly natural place of leisure and fun since the Industrial Revolution, and now the site of our species’ myopia.
Daniela BleiNov 16, 2022
Bookhood: On Emma Smith’s “Portable Magic”
Daniel Blank reviews Emma Smith’s “Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers.”
Daniel BlankNov 15, 2022
- History
- Nonfiction
The Mandates of Magic: On Timeka N. Tounsel’s “Branding Black Womanhood”
What are the mandates of Black Girl Magic? Leigh-Michil George looks at the history of “Essence” magazine and the complicated personal politics of representation in an essay about Timeka N. Tounsel’s “Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to Black Girl Magic.”
Leigh-Michil GeorgeNov 10, 2022
Identity Is a Flexible Category: A Conversation with Sorayya Khan
Torsa Ghosal talks with Sorayya Khan about her new memoir, “We Take Our Cities with Us.”
Torsa GhosalNov 7, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
- Nonfiction
The Dreariness of Book Club Discussions
Book clubs are wildly popular, but, Naomi Kanakia asks, what use are they, really?
Naomi KanakiaNov 2, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
- Nonfiction
The Silence About Menstruation: A Conversation with Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
Eleanor J. Bader talks with Rachel Kauder Nalebuff about her new collection “Our Red Book: Intimate Histories of Periods, Growing & Changing.”
Eleanor J. BaderNov 1, 2022