Esther Kinsky’s Celluloid Dreams Esther Kinsky’s Celluloid Dreams
In Seeing Further, a novel obsessed with the tactile feeling of arthouse cinema, the sad state of our moviegoing comes into focus.
Apr 28, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Walker Rutter-Bowman
Wolfgang Koeppen—“Poet of Failure” Wolfgang Koeppen—“Poet of Failure”
The German writer’s postwar works were ruthless in their condemnation of a country that, in its inability to reckon with historical atrocity, was beyond reform.
Apr 22, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Pankaj Mishra
Larry McMurtry’s Tall Tales Larry McMurtry’s Tall Tales
By questioning the myth of the cowboy, he offered a different kind of legend, one more suited to this country and its contradictions.
Apr 16, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Gus O’Connor
The Worlds of Jamaica Kincaid The Worlds of Jamaica Kincaid
Memory pervades a new collection of nonfiction, and so do the ghosts of empire.
Apr 8, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Edna Bonhomme
Ben Lerner’s Novel of Fathers and Sons Ben Lerner’s Novel of Fathers and Sons
His most experimental and unsettling book, Transcription asks us whether art is futile or the most important weapon we have.
Apr 7, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Tara K. Menon
Jay McInerney’s Yuppie New York Jay McInerney’s Yuppie New York
The novelist has spent a career mocking and romanticizing the lifestyle of New York's bourgeoisie. Now, in his latest, he examines them as they come to the end of their lives.
Apr 6, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Erin Somers
The Enigma of Gertrude Stein The Enigma of Gertrude Stein
Why do we misunderstand one of modernism’s great writers?
Mar 30, 2026 / Books & the Arts / David Schurman Wallace
What Its Like to Serve the Chinese Elite What Its Like to Serve the Chinese Elite
Zhang Yueran’s novel Women, Seated—a take on the upstairs, downstairs drama—examines class conflict among the Chinese upper crust and the people who wait on them.
Mar 27, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Ting Lin
In “Bomarzo,” the Renaissance Man is a Monster In “Bomarzo,” the Renaissance Man is a Monster
Manuel Mujica Lainez’s historical novel, a strange biography of a 16th-century duke, leaves the reader wondering if human nature can ever change.
Mar 26, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl
The Trouble With Adapting “Wuthering Heights” The Trouble With Adapting “Wuthering Heights”
Why adaptations of Emily Brontë’s novel, across generations, have misunderstood the work and its world.
Mar 24, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Victoria Baena