Becca Rothfeld

Becca Rothfeld, a contributing editor at The Point, is working on an essay collection for Metropolitan Books.

Diane Johnson’s Homecoming

Diane Johnson’s Homecoming Diane Johnson’s Homecoming

In her new novel, the novelist returns to the United States to offer a self-conscious story of American fragmentation.

Jun 28, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Bruno Schulz’s Dream Worlds

Bruno Schulz’s Dream Worlds Bruno Schulz’s Dream Worlds

Born in turn-of-the-century Poland, Schulz lived both longer and better in his books than in real life. 

Jul 29, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

The Magic of Helen DeWitt

The Magic of Helen DeWitt The Magic of Helen DeWitt

In the world of Some Trick, the best words are so acute they lacerate.

Oct 11, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Christa Wolf’s Life Under Surveillance

Christa Wolf’s Life Under Surveillance Christa Wolf’s Life Under Surveillance

In her diaries, the German novelist recorded a life of watching and being watched.

Feb 22, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

The Uncanny World of Deborah Levy

The Uncanny World of Deborah Levy The Uncanny World of Deborah Levy

The English novelist is a connoisseur of domestic disturbances.

Aug 9, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Affliction and Salvation

Affliction and Salvation Affliction and Salvation

Love was a learned art for Iris Murdoch, because it involved realizing that something other than the self is real.

Sep 9, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Ghostly Presences

Ghostly Presences Ghostly Presences

Unable to write effectively but unable to remain silent, W.G. Sebald, like the narrator of The Emigrants, is condemned to speak unsatisfactorily.

Aug 17, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

The Partisan Reviewer

The Partisan Reviewer The Partisan Reviewer

In two recent essay collections, Tim Parks explores why we bother with reading and writing books.

Jul 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

J.M. Coetzee.

J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life

For the South African author, the selves we write and read may be truer than any other.

Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Linda Rosenkrantz with her tape recorder, 1965.

Real, Realist, Realistic, and False Real, Realist, Realistic, and False

Linda Rosenkrantz’s 1968 quasi-novel Talk reminds us that wry self-awareness and anxious fragility are hardly millennial inventions.

Nov 25, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

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