A collection of 205 posts
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.
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.
A look back at J.G. Ballard's ‘Crash’—one of the the 20th century’s greatest and most disturbingly prophetic novels.
Jay Anson’s haunted-house yarn was a highly lucrative hoax, but it struck a popular chord amid the financial precarity of 1970s America.
Robert Pirsig’s insufferable cult novel about philosophy and bike maintenance turns 50.
A look back at the work and impressively productive life of Brooklyn’s most famous resident, Paul Auster.
Peter Benchley’s ‘Jaws’ turns 50.
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.
These great books should be read together, for each illuminates a different part of the American character.
In his latest novel, Tom Piazza imagines the finest meeting of American minds never to have happened.
A tribute to three pop-fiction authors who passed away this year.
A charming exhibition at London’s Charles Dickens Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the private lives of two great English writers.
Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ is an overlooked classic.
A look back at the career of Avery Corman, who found popular success with ‘Kramer versus Kramer’ before running afoul of feminism.
Like the first iPhone, Gutenberg’s Bible opened up avenues of development that entrepreneurs have been exploiting ever since.