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
Imperiled Planet
The ecological havoc we’ve wrought
By Priscilla Long Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Burning Earth: A Historyby Sunil Amrith
Ground Truth
A story of dirt, dollars, and death
By Steve Yarbrough Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippiby Wright Thompson
Insisting on the Positive
A popular historian’s philosophical musings
By Carlin Romano Tuesday, September 3, 2024
On Freedomby Timothy Snyder
A Stranger in the Seven Hills
A refugee’s experience in the Eternal City
By Ingrid D. Rowland Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Roman Year: A Memoirby André Aciman
Feels Like Coming Home
The wonders of the coastal redwood
By Danusha Laméris Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Mortal Coils
We aren’t alone in facing the inevitable
By Sy Montgomery Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Deathby Susana Monsó
Silent Partner
The union that may have made possible a writer’s late flourishing
By Robert Zaretsky Tuesday, September 3, 2024
A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevensonby Camille Peri
Schmaltz of Significance
How the first talkie treated the myth of the melting pot
By Steven G. Kellman Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Only in America: Al Jolson and The Jazz Singerby Richard Bernstein
