Fiction

Saul Bellow (middle) after acknowledging his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature, October 22, 1976. (Credit: Charles Knoblock / AP)

The Flow of Life The Flow of Life

Is Saul Bellow the central American novelist since Willa Cather and William Faulkner?

Sep 10, 2015 / Books & the Arts / David Mikics

September 10, 1885: Carl Van Doren Is Born

September 10, 1885: Carl Van Doren Is Born September 10, 1885: Carl Van Doren Is Born

“He has labored untiringly to dig the weeds out of the annals of American fiction.”

Sep 10, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner

September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies

September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies September 2, 1973: J.R.R. Tolkien Dies

“One is puzzled to know why the author should have supposed he was writing for adults.… There is little in The Lord of the Rings over the head of a seven-year-old child.”

Sep 2, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner

Yoss

Welcome to Earth: Cuba’s ‘Special Period’ Gets the Sci-Fi Treatment Welcome to Earth: Cuba’s ‘Special Period’ Gets the Sci-Fi Treatment

The funny, scathing, and heart-wrenching universe of A Planet for Rent.

Aug 27, 2015 / Books & the Arts / André Naffis-Sahely

Samuel R. Delany

Samuel R. Delany Speaks Samuel R. Delany Speaks

The award-winning novelist discusses the intersection of race, sexual identity, and science fiction.

Aug 24, 2015 / Dispatch / Cecilia D’Anastasio

How a Harper Lee Novel Unfit to Print Was Turned Into Found Money

How a Harper Lee Novel Unfit to Print Was Turned Into Found Money How a Harper Lee Novel Unfit to Print Was Turned Into Found Money

The decision to publish was purely a marketing decision. It turned out to be a shrewd one.

Aug 18, 2015 / Richard Lingeman

August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US

August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US

“Lolita by high art transmutes persons, motives and actions which in ordinary life are considered indecent, into objects of delight, compassion and contemplation.”

Aug 18, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner

Angela Flournoy.

House of the Dispossessed House of the Dispossessed

Angela Flournoy's The Turner House is a story of the living and the lost.

Aug 13, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Hannah Gold

July 31, 1965: J.K. Rowling is Born

July 31, 1965: J.K. Rowling is Born July 31, 1965: J.K. Rowling is Born

“As the rest of the wizarding world teeters on the brink of catastrophe, what Harry really wants to know is: Did Dumbledore love me or what?”

Jul 31, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner

E.L. Doctorow

So Long, E.L. Doctorow, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh So Long, E.L. Doctorow, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh

You were a friend, a supporter of The Nation, and one of America’s great novelists.

Jul 30, 2015 / Editorial / Victor Navasky

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