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 · 18 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 · 14 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 · 14 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 · 7 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 · 13 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 · 19 min read
The Communication Revolution Like the first iPhone, Gutenberg’s Bible opened up avenues of development that entrepreneurs have been exploiting ever since. James Hannam 27 Sep 2023 · 10 min read
Remembering ‘Exodus’ A perennially controversial bestseller turns 65. Kevin Mims 4 Sep 2023 · 18 min read
On Marriage and Happiness It is easy for a successful writer to advise that career success isn’t that important. Would a failed writer agree? Kevin Mims 26 Aug 2023 · 9 min read
