A Biographer Looks Back
A noted practitioner reveals her tricks of the trade
By Ann Jefferson Monday, December 2, 2019
Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me by Deirdre Bair
A Founding Class
Two new studies of the man from Monticello
By Henry Wiencek Monday, December 2, 2019
Thomas Jefferson’s Education by Alan Taylor Revolutionary Brothers by Tom Chaffin
Questions of Inspiration
Should we try to see the poet in her poetry?
By Rachel Hadas Monday, December 2, 2019
Love Unknown: The Life and Worlds of Elizabeth Bishop by Thomas Travisano
The Barber of Language
A new collection from a celebrated prose stylist
By Sandra M. Gilbert Monday, December 2, 2019
Essays One by Lydia Davis
Nationalist Anthems
Remembering a time when composers mattered more
By Sudip Bose Monday, December 2, 2019
Dangerous Melodies by Jonathan Rosenberg
Pursuing the White Whale
A briny exploration of Melville’s greatest work
By William Howarth Monday, December 2, 2019
Ahab’s Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick by Richard J. King
Too Long Ignored
An engaging look at the forces that shaped history south of the border
By Richard Moe Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Silver, Sword & Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story by Marie Arana
Head Cases
Field notes on a beautiful friendship
By T. M. Luhrmann Tuesday, September 3, 2019
And How Are You, Dr. Sacks? A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks by Lawrence Weschler
The Great Convergence
How continental art and literature went global
By Anka Muhlstein Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Europeans: Three Lives and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Culture by Orlando Figes
Image Is Not Everything
A definitive portrait of a celebrated American intellectual
By Steven G. Kellman Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser
Aging Out
Many of us do not go gentle into that good night
By Anne Matthews Thursday, December 5, 2024
Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Ageby James Chappel
Divided Providence
Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War
By Robert Wilson Monday, December 2, 2024
Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Unionby Richard Carwardine
Ideology as Anatomy
How shifting ideas about women’s bodies have affected their lives
By Sierra Bellows Monday, December 2, 2024
Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Partsby Helen King
Island Royalty
A new biography of a Caribbean revolutionary
By Madison Smartt Bell Monday, December 2, 2024
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christopheby Marlene L. Daut
The Creator’s Code
Are humans alone in their ability to make art?
By Evelyn McDonnell Monday, December 2, 2024
The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines From Automata to AIby David Hajdu
Barbarity at the Bataclan
A chilling account of darkness in the City of Light
By Charles Trueheart Monday, December 2, 2024
V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère, translated from the Frenchby John Lambert
Heart of Semi-Darkness
A writer’s delectable quest for rare flavors
By Tim Carman Thursday, November 7, 2024
Masters of Horror and Magic
The German folklorists who helped build a nation
By Anne Matthews Friday, November 1, 2024
For Want of Touch
The astonishing breadth of our passions