A Poet of the Soil
The legacy of a writer who struggled with his celebrity
By Richard Tillinghast Friday, September 27, 2024
The Letters of Seamus Heaney selected and edited by Christopher Reid
Patience, Practice, Perseverance
How Octavia E. Butler became a writer
By Lynell George Thursday, September 14, 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
The Friend Zone
Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas on what makes a marriage tick were downright radical for their time
By Robert Zaretsky Sunday, February 19, 2023
Declassified
How genre-bending tales of espionage emerged from a childhood of pain, anger, and deception
By James Gibney Thursday, December 8, 2022
A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré Edited by Tim Cornwell; Viking, 752 pp., $40
Freedom Tales
Long before the contentious school board fights of today, Lydia Maria Child tried to help America’s children understand their country’s racial transgressions
By Lydia Moland Monday, September 19, 2022
Dissident Lit 
Vladimir Nabokov and the novel that nourished the souls of a generation of would-be revolutionaries
By Richard Roper Thursday, September 1, 2022
She Was the Toast of the World
The dramas and diaries of Edna St. Vincent Millay
By Sandra M. Gilbert Wednesday, June 1, 2022
The Birth of the Egghead Paperback
How one very young man changed the course of publishing and intellectual life in America
By Mark LaFlaur Saturday, May 7, 2022
At the Corner of Byron and Shelley
Poetry and philhellenism at the Greek bicentennial
By A. E. Stallings Thursday, September 16, 2021
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Essays From the Edge
The Jazz Age novelist’s chronicle of his mental collapse, much derided by his critics, anticipated the rise of autobiographical writing in America
By Patricia Hampl Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sex and the Single Woman
Rediscovering the novels of Iris Owens
By Lisa Zeidner Wednesday, November 30, 2011
When Kerouac Met Kesey
The two counterculture heroes, one representing the Beat ’50s and one the psychedelic ’60s, had a lot less in common than you might expect
By Sterling Lord Thursday, August 25, 2011
Ardent Spirit, Generous Friend
Remembering the novelist Reynolds Price
By David Guy Friday, June 3, 2011
An Italian Tragedy
Discovering a World War II tale that mesmerizes, then horrifies
By Janna Malamud Smith Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Trial and Eros
When Lady Chatterley’s Lover ran afoul of Britain’s 1959 obscenity law, the resulting case had a cast worthy of P.G. Wodehouse
By Ben Yagoda Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Lunching on Olympus
My meals with W. H. Auden, E. M. Forster, Philip Larkin, and William Empson
By Steven L. Isenberg Thursday, January 28, 2010
Shylock, My Students, and Me
What I’ve learned from 30 years of teaching The Merchant of Venice
By Paula Marantz Cohen Tuesday, December 1, 2009
