Literary Criticism

Dubai Mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In the Zone of the Rich In the Zone of the Rich

In The Hidden Globe, Atossa Araxia Abrahamian examines what globalization has come to look like for the wealthy.

Nov 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vanessa Ogle

Storming the Winter Palace on October 25, 1917.

The Impossible Story of Communism The Impossible Story of Communism

How do you tell the history of a global movement in all its hope and contradiction?

Nov 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

What happened to the French novelist?

Nov 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Cole Stangler

A detail of a painting by Thomas Nast.

Slavery in an Age of Emancipation Slavery in an Age of Emancipation

Robin Blackburn’s sweeping history of slavery and freedom in the 19th century.

Nov 19, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Manisha Sinha

Emily Oster and the Optimization of Parenting

Emily Oster and the Optimization of Parenting Emily Oster and the Optimization of Parenting

What gets lost when we approach pregnancy and raising children through data?

Oct 29, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Anna Louie Sussman

LAPD officers on the UCLA Campus in May of this year.

The Politics of Speech on the American Campus The Politics of Speech on the American Campus

Freedom of speech on campuses has long been under attack, but now more than ever.

Oct 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Bruce Robbins

A photograph of Sylvia Plath on her grave at St Thomas A. Beckett churchyard, Heptonstall, West Yorkshire, 2011.

The Silencing of Sylvia Plath The Silencing of Sylvia Plath

In Emily Van Duyne’s Loving Sylvia Plath she asks if we can fully understand the poet’s work without understanding her abusive marriage to Ted Hughes.

Oct 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lynne Feeley

A crowd outside Minneapolis’s Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank during an economic crisis in May 1893.

The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance

The deep roots of debt relief activism in the United States.

Sep 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Astra Taylor

Sally Rooney’s Open Question

Sally Rooney’s Open Question Sally Rooney’s Open Question

In Intermezzo, we get characters acting out their political commitments instead of just talking about them. But is their vision of domestic cooperation enough?

Sep 24, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jess Bergman

The Myrtle-Broadway subway station in Brooklyn, 2024.

The Rise and Fall of New York Clubbing The Rise and Fall of New York Clubbing

Emily Witt’s memoir of Brooklyn's rave scene accomplishes something that even the cynical among us cannot deny: It will make you want to go dancing.

Sep 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kevin Lozano

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