Journalist Tom Roston outlines the story behind Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five, and the wartime trauma that inspired it.
People often think of Elizabeth Barrett Browning as a “swooning poetess,” but Fiona Sampson’s dazzling and absorbing biography is likely to change that.
Is Lolita a work of genius or unrepentant smut? A madman’s confession or justification for pedophilia? These essays wholly reassess this work’s legacy.
Michael Blanding’s deep dive into the world of Shakespearean scholarship is almost as much fun as sitting in a theater.
In her absorbing biography of elusive author Louise Fitzhugh, Leslie Brody succeeds admirably in reconstructing Fitzhugh’s complicated, often troubled life.
We get the full scope of Sylvia Plath’s incredible talent in Red Comet, rightfully established as complicated, radiant and worthy of deep consideration.
Mad at the World vibrantly illuminates the life and work of John Steinbeck, a writer who is still widely read and relevant today.
A.N. Wilson draws on unexpected, sometimes arcane sources to paint a portrait of Charles Dickens with impressive depth and nuance.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his times are brought vividly to life by Nicholas A. Basbanes in his authoritative and wonderfully readable Cross of Snow.
Wendy Lesser’s Scandinavian Noir is a fascinating tribute to a unique breed of mystery. Fans of Nordic noir, take note.
How did brooding, solitary private eye character come to rule the crime scene? Susanna Lee sheds light on the mystery.
Kathryn Harkup unearths the science and stagecraft behind the more than 250 deaths Shakespeare’s characters experience or inflict.
This thought-provoking meditation on solitude lifts up many writers and artists who have embraced seclusion.
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