Heinrich Heine
February 4, 2021
George Prochnik— What’s life without glory, blazing love affairs, and apple tarts? That’s to say, what is life without song and true liberation for all? Heinrich Heine at thirteen, diminutive… READ MORE
Tag: literature
Little Red Riding Hood
January 19, 2021
Alberto Manguel— There are characters whose name reveals their skin color (Snow White), their ability (Spiderman), their size (Thumbelina). Others, their dress. A short blood-colored cape defines the adventurous girl… READ MORE
A Conversation with Patrick Modiano
December 18, 2020
The latest work from Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano, Invisible Ink is a spellbinding tale of memory and its illusions. Private detective Jean Eyben receives an assignment to locate a missing woman,… READ MORE
Why I Write
March 4, 2020
Nicholas Delbanco— I have in front of me a black, spring-loaded binder titled ART. A smaller version of the title has been pasted on the spine. The sturdy pebbled folder… READ MORE
Why Munch Painted
November 12, 2019
Karl Ove Knausgaard— I knew why Munch painted, I knew it so well that I could articulate it with a single sentence. And it resembles the sentence spoken by the… READ MORE
A Time to Write and a Time to Resist
July 17, 2019
David G. Roskies— Writing, we are told, is a form of resistance. The act of writing is an assertion of one’s selfhood, one’s right to live, think and feel in… READ MORE
Book of Collateral Damage
June 4, 2019
Sinan Antoon— A drop of sweat fell on the edge of the piece of paper and I stopped reading. His handwriting was neat and confident. The ink was black, maybe… READ MORE
On Books and Libraries
June 3, 2019
Alberto Manguel— I would argue that public libraries, holding both virtual and material texts, are an essential instrument to counter loneliness. I would defend their place as society’s memory and… READ MORE
How the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Saved Kurt Vonnegut’s Fledgling Career
May 7, 2019
David O. Dowling— In mid-1960s suburban Cape Cod, Kurt Vonnegut—whose ink sketches and signed monographs now command up to $5,000 each—was unknown and his books were out of print. “I… READ MORE
David Garrick and the Club
April 8, 2019
Leo Damrosch— When I got the idea of telling the story of a famous eighteenth-century club that called itself simply “the Club,” I knew that there were incredibly rich resources… READ MORE
The Abduction of a Professor: A True Crime Story