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 Age by 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 Union by 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 Parts by Helen King
A Quicksilver Maker
The worldly verse of Lorna Goodison
By Langdon Hammer Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The Interdisciplinarian
Evelyn Fox Keller has spent a lifetime in different scientific fields, while managing to shatter a glass ceiling or two
By Sandra M. Gilbert Tuesday, September 5, 2023
One Look Back
“Now, after days of asking, she and her mother were finally minutes away from the cabin.”
By Ann Beattie Thursday, August 31, 2023
A Room for the Ages
Oglethorpe University’s time capsule was meant to last thousands of years, but will it?
By Colin Dickey Monday, August 21, 2023
Will the Real Vergil Please Stand Up?
Making sense of the life of a poet about whom we know so little
By Sarah Ruden Thursday, August 17, 2023
Dancing With Deneuve
A young writer observed a failure in the making while watching François Truffaut in action
By James Conaway Friday, August 11, 2023
