Beaten Boys and Frantic Pets
A close reading of Tom Sawyer reveals why Mark Twain isn’t nearly as funny as he thinks he is
By Adam Gussow Thursday, September 1, 2005
Travels with Alfred
On assignment with one of the world’s great photographers
By Timothy Foote Thursday, September 1, 2005
Tristes Tropiques
Remembering the screenwriter of North by Northwest
By William Zinsser Thursday, September 1, 2005
All the Extras
When the Criterion Collection releases a classic on DVD, the movie is only the beginning
By Tim Page Thursday, September 1, 2005
The Latches of Paradise
Charles Wright’s meditations and memories at year’s end
By Langdon Hammer Thursday, September 1, 2005
The Writer in the Family
The fiction of E. L. Doctorow gave a young man hope of connecting his father and his literary hero
By Jonathan Liebson Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The Weight of a Stone
Searching for stability in an erratic world led Oliver Sacks and other writers to the realms of geology
By Megan Craig Thursday, January 2, 2025
Verde
Learning a foreign language isn’t just about improving cognitive function—it can teach us to sense the world anew
By Jesse Lee Kercheval Thursday, December 12, 2024
Aging Out
Many of us do not go gentle into that good night
By Anne Matthews Thursday, December 5, 2024
Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Ageby James Chappel
Under a Spell Everlasting
Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, published a century ago, tells of a world unable to free itself from the cataclysm of war
By Samantha Rose Hill Monday, December 2, 2024
Divided Providence
Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War
By Robert Wilson Monday, December 2, 2024
Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Unionby Richard Carwardine
The Fair Fields 
Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil
By Rosanna Warren Monday, December 2, 2024
Ideology as Anatomy
How shifting ideas about women’s bodies have affected their lives
By Sierra Bellows Monday, December 2, 2024
Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Partsby Helen King
