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
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
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
In the Mushroom
True foraging isn’t the domain of the weekend warrior; it’s serious, serious business
By Michael Autrey Monday, December 2, 2024
The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend
How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths
By Janna Malamud Smith Monday, December 2, 2024
Granaries of Language
Dictionaries are far more than alphabetized collections of words
By Ilan Stavans Monday, December 2, 2024
Reborn in the City of Light
At a time when Paris was an incubator of modernism, a group of bold American women arrived to make art out of their lives
By Rosanna Warren Thursday, October 24, 2024
Thoreau’s Pencils
How might a newly discovered
connection to slavery change
our understanding of an abolitionist
hero and his writing?
By Augustine Sedgewick Thursday, October 17, 2024
The Wandering Years
Read the travel journals of literary icon Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who died yesterday at 101
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti Monday, June 8, 2015
My Mother’s Yiddish
The music of my childhood was a language filled with endearments and rebukes, and frequent misunderstandings
By Phyllis Rose Monday, June 8, 2015
Net Gains
Nabokov’s profitable summer chasing butterflies and settling scores in the Utah mountains
By Robert Roper Monday, June 8, 2015
Saigon Summer
A spy’s daughter remembers the haunting unreality of embassy life in South Vietnam before the fall
By Sara Mansfield Taber Monday, June 8, 2015
How to Write a Memoir
Be yourself, speak freely, and think small
By William Zinsser Tuesday, May 12, 2015
The Embattled First Amendment
The Supreme Court is interpreting free speech in new ways that threaten our democracy
By Lincoln Caplan Wednesday, March 4, 2015
A Terrible Loss
Lincoln’s assassination 150 years ago turned plans for postwar reconciliation to a frenzy of violence
By Jonathan W. White Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Kill the Creature
In search of snakes—and the balm of charity and love in a world of infinitely lonely space
By Christian Wiman Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Confessing and Confiding
Knowing the difference between the two can elevate an essay from therapy to art
By Emily Fox Gordon Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Failure to Heal
Today’s medical industry thrives on diagnosing and curing, but it doesn’t reach the soul
By Philip Alcabes Wednesday, March 4, 2015
