Motorpsycho Nightmare
Robert Pirsig’s insufferable cult novel about philosophy and bike maintenance turns 50.
Kevin Mims
· 18 min read
Books
A collection of 217 posts
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
· 14 min read
Here Comes the Bite
Peter Benchley’s ‘Jaws’ turns 50.
Kevin Mims
· 24 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
· 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
· 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
· 6 min read
In Memoriam, 2023
A tribute to three pop-fiction authors who passed away this year.
Kevin Mims
· 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
· 7 min read
The Greatest American Western Novel of All
Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ is an overlooked classic.
Kevin Mims
· 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
· 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
· 10 min read
Remembering ‘Exodus’
A perennially controversial bestseller turns 65.
Kevin Mims
· 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
· 9 min read
Milan Kundera: The Nobel Prize for Literature Winner We Never Had
Few writers in our time were more committed to the novel or had more idealism about the heights the form could scale.
Robin Ashenden
· 12 min read
The Sorrow and the Self-Pity
Michel Houellebecq’s new memoir reveals a man quick to find fault with others but slow to accept responsibility for his woes.
RJ Smith
· 8 min read