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Autobiography and MemoirOctober 20, 2021
The Mysteries of the Childhood Memoir
Richard Wollheim’s Germs is a brilliant and curious example of a genre dedicated to unraveling the riddles of a time we have a hard time remembering.
John Banville
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BiographyMay 4, 2021
Graham Greene’s God
As a new biography shows, the British novelist was always haunted by, and uncertain about, his own faith.
John Banville
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October 26, 2017
What Was It Like to Be Ernest Hemingway?
The world of the Hemingways rattled with frequent gunfire.
John Banville
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FictionMay 11, 2006
Laughter in the Dark
New translations of novels by exiled authors Roberto Bolaño and Ismail Kadare explore the bloody crossroads where literature, politics and self-absorption converge.
John Banville
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Autobiography and MemoirNovember 17, 2005
Monster’s Ball
Party in the Blitz, the final volume of Nobel laureate Elias Canetti’s memoirs, is a chaotic, horribly fascinating memoir of a man who was a slave to love, an omnivorous intellect and a literary giant.
John Banville
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FictionJanuary 13, 2005
Beyond Good and Evil
Adorno said, as we all know, that writing poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. This is not to say, as many imagine, that writing poetry after Auschwitz is to be forbidden, or is impossible.
John Banville
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BiographySeptember 30, 2004
The Human Stain
The question has been asked: Was Franz Kafka human? He seems to have had doubts himself.
John Banville
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FictionOctober 16, 2003