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
Mortify Our Wolves
The struggle back to life and faith in the face of pain and the certainty of death
By Christian Wiman Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Love in Wartime
The epistolary romance of a Los Alamos scientist and a Radcliffe junior destined for poetic renown
By Maxine Kumin Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Letter to Posterity
A passion for philosophy led me to my first career, and a passion for art led me to a second, as a critic
By Arthur C. Danto Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Justice for Sale
How big money is overwhelming judicial elections and corroding our confidence in the courts
By Lincoln Caplan Friday, June 1, 2012
The Right Honourable Mr. Burke
Impassioned orator, eloquent statesman, esteemed writer—but who was Edmund Burke the man?
By Brian Doyle Friday, June 1, 2012
Living With Voices
A new way to deal with disturbing voices offers hope for those with other forms of psychosis
By T. M. Luhrmann Friday, June 1, 2012
A Feast of Fat Things
After umpteen years of living in America, an English writer gives thanks for its salient pleasures
By Paul West Friday, June 1, 2012
Yellow Journalist
Confessions of a novice writer at the New York Post
By Gerald Nachman Friday, June 1, 2012
Rites of Passage
When a quirky old man who lived on the Cape died, I thought I didn’t care
By Steve Macone Friday, June 1, 2012
A Question of Honor
Cheating on campus undermines the reputation of our universities and the value of their degrees. Now is the time for students themselves to stop it
By William M. Chace Thursday, March 1, 2012
