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
What Killed My Sister?
The answer—schizophrenia—only leads to more perplexing questions
By Priscilla Long Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The Making of PoBiz Farm
After it became our permanent home, we overfilled it with overloved horses and dogs
By Maxine Kumin Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The Presence of Absence
Our losses give vitality to our lives
By Bethany Vaccaro Tuesday, March 11, 2014
A Whole Day Nearer Now
But all life’s passion not quite spent
By Doris Grumbach Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Where Are the People?
Evangelical Christianity in America is losing its power—what happened to Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral shows why
By Jim Hinch Friday, December 6, 2013
My Kingdom for a Wave
If your life as a public intellectual takes you to the highest crests, be prepared for the troughs that follow
By Amitai Etzioni Friday, December 6, 2013
My Friend Melanie Has Breast Cancer
How it might have happened, and why we are looking in the wrong places to prevent similar cases
By Anna Blackmon Moore Friday, December 6, 2013
Homeless in the City
A writer describes the decade he has spent living on the streets
By Theodore Walther Friday, December 6, 2013
Our Farm, My Inspiration
How a weekend getaway became a poet’s muse
By Maxine Kumin Friday, December 6, 2013
