Less Than Half ‘A Man in Full’ One of US television’s most experienced and talented writers has made a mess of Tom Wolfe’s second novel. Kevin Mims 13 May 2024 · 23 min read
Desire and Ambition Today, most of John Braine’s work is out of print and forgotten. But he was an underrated writer, unafraid to confront the complexities of masculine sexuality with terse precision, self-deprecation, and emotional candour. Brad Strotten 13 Apr 2024 · 10 min read
The Prophet of October 7? Frantz Fanon’s defenders try to distance him from the of ethos of violence he advocated, even as they embrace his anti-colonialist rhetoric to promote anti-Zionism. Leon Hadar 6 Apr 2024 · 11 min read
Sex and Smashed Steel A look back at J.G. Ballard's ‘Crash’—one of the the 20th century’s greatest and most disturbingly prophetic novels. Benjamin Kerstein 2 Apr 2024 · 25 min read
The Amityville Horror—A 50-Year Old Lie That Won’t Die Jay Anson’s haunted-house yarn was a highly lucrative hoax, but it struck a popular chord amid the financial precarity of 1970s America. Kevin Mims 7 Mar 2024 · 26 min read
Motorpsycho Nightmare Robert Pirsig’s insufferable cult novel about philosophy and bike maintenance turns 50. Kevin Mims 20 Feb 2024 · 17 min read
In the Country of Last Things A look back at the work and impressively productive life of Brooklyn’s most famous resident, Paul Auster. David Cohen 19 Feb 2024 · 13 min read
Bestseller Reparations In ‘American Fiction,’ director Cord Jefferson brings a devil-may-care effrontery to bear on the culture of self-censorship, progressive pieties, and artistic hypocrisy. Thomas Larson 24 Jan 2024 · 7 min read
Huck Finn or Uncle Tom? These great books should be read together, for each illuminates a different part of the American character. Tim DeRoche 13 Jan 2024 · 8 min read
A Dense Thicket of Contending Visions In his latest novel, Tom Piazza imagines the finest meeting of American minds never to have happened. Matt Hanson 7 Jan 2024 · 6 min read
In Memoriam, 2023 A tribute to three pop-fiction authors who passed away this year. Kevin Mims 19 Dec 2023 · 13 min read
Mutual Friends: The Adventures of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins A charming exhibition at London’s Charles Dickens Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the private lives of two great English writers. Hannah Gal 11 Dec 2023 · 6 min read
The Greatest American Western Novel of All Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ is an overlooked classic. Kevin Mims 23 Nov 2023 · 12 min read
Man Out of Time A look back at the career of Avery Corman, who found popular success with ‘Kramer versus Kramer’ before running afoul of feminism. Kevin Mims 6 Oct 2023 · 18 min read