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
By Diana Goetsch Thursday, September 26, 2024
Imperiled Planet
The ecological havoc we’ve wrought
By Priscilla Long Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Burning Earth: A History by Sunil Amrith
Ground Truth
A story of dirt, dollars, and death
By Steve Yarbrough Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson
Insisting on the Positive
A popular historian’s philosophical musings
By Carlin Romano Tuesday, September 3, 2024
On Freedom by Timothy Snyder
A Stranger in the Seven Hills
A refugee’s experience in the Eternal City
By Ingrid D. Rowland Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Roman Year: A Memoir by André Aciman
Mortal Coils
We aren’t alone in facing the inevitable
By Sy Montgomery Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death by Susana Monsó
Silent Partner
The union that may have made possible a writer’s late flourishing
By Robert Zaretsky Tuesday, September 3, 2024
A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson by Camille Peri
Schmaltz of Significance
How the first talkie treated the myth of the melting pot
By Steven G. Kellman Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Only in America: Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer by Richard Bernstein
The Genius and Her Sanctuary
Pivotal moments in the pairing of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas
By Catharine R. Stimpson Saturday, September 1, 2007
Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice By Janet Malcolm
Atonality and Beyond
The century when composers and audiences parted company
By Sudip Bose Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century By Alex Ross, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Early End of Consensus
Bitter partisanship began soon after George Washington left the scene
By Jill Ogline Saturday, September 1, 2007
A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign By Edward J. Larson
Swept Away
When Géricault painted The Raft of the Medusa, he immersed himself in his subject’s horrors
By Anthony Brandt Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Wreck of the Medusa By Jonathan Miles
Nurtural Intelligence
The discoverer of the Flynn effect claims that genes control IQ less than you’d expect
By Richard Restak Saturday, September 1, 2007
What Is Intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect By James R. Flynn
Words and Music
Two ways of thinking about what our brains can do
By Jennifer Michael Hecht Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human NatureBy Steven Pinker /Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain By Oliver Sacks
The Whirling Princess
How a little rich girl known as Pussy Jones became Edith Wharton, writing her way into the aristocracy of American letters
By Sandra M. Gilbert Friday, June 1, 2007
Edith Wharton By Hermione Lee, Alfred A. Knopf
The Heroic and the Crass
Case studies in American presidential backbone
By Gary Hart Friday, June 1, 2007
Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989 By Michael Beschloss, Simon & Schuster
Wide World
An essayist and activist who makes eloquent connections
By Sarah Fay Friday, June 1, 2007
Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics By Rebecca Solnit
The Meandering Naturalist
By William Howarth Friday, June 1, 2007
A Wanderer All My Days: John Muir in New England By J. Parker Huber
