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
Tiny Tomes
Literature in miniature has a 500-year history, but what’s the appeal of a volume too small to read?
By Judith Pascoe Thursday, June 1, 2006
Why Read George Eliot?
Her novels are just modern enough—and just old-fashioned enough, too
By Paula Marantz Cohen Wednesday, March 1, 2006
The Abuses of Enchantment
Why some children’s classics give parents the creeps
By Wendy Smith Thursday, September 1, 2005
Leading Men
Authorities on the Revolutionary era say how the Founding Fathers became culture heroes.
By Anne Matthews Tuesday, March 1, 2005
