Was It really about a murderous clown, or was it about our ability to forget the horrors of the past?
2017
Posted inEditor's Pick
America Is Still the Future
Sullivan reflects back on his time as a foreigner in the U.S. and how he learned to embrace the country’s flaws and virtues during his journey of becoming a citizen.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Whitefish, Montana Will Not be Intimidated
Andrew Romano tells how the small town of Whitefish, Montana, stood up to the anti-Semitic threats of resident neo-Nazi Richard Spencer and his band of white supremacists, sending a strong, clear message: hate is not welcome here; we will not back down.
Posted inFiction, Nonfiction, Quotes
Obama by the Books
In Vulture, book critic Christian Lorentzen suggests we dispense with terms like “postmodern” and “postwar” when discussing novels, and instead analyze them relative to the presidential administrations under which they were released. What will we mean when someday we refer to Obama Lit? I think we’ll be discussing novels about authenticity, or about “problems of […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
To Obama With Love, and Hate, and Desperation
Jeanne Marie Laskas goes behind the scenes in the Whitehouse mailroom where it took “50 staff members, 36 interns, and a rotating roster of 300 volunteers” to read and process the 10,000 messages and letters President Barack Obama received each day during his eight-year presidency. Of the 10,000 pieces of correspondence, staffers were charged with […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A New Era of Unreality: Stop Making Sense, or How to Write in the Age of Trump
In the Village Voice, Aleksandar Hemon explores the “unreality” of a Trump presidency, likening this era of American history to the start of the war in Bosnia in 1992, and calling for new literature that doesn’t shy away from the conflicts and destruction ahead.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Between Their Arab Past and American Present
Lauren Alwan narrates her family’s migration from Syria to California to explore how people’s evolving identities help gain them a foothold in America and create unintentional tensions across generations.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
A deep look into the career and voting record of Vice President Mike Pence during his time in Indiana government.
Posted inProfiles & Interviews, Quote Posts, Quotes
Paul Auster: ‘I Feel Utterly Astonished That We Could Have Come to This’
In a candid interview at the Guardian, author Paul Auster — who turns 70 next month — discusses his breadth of work over the decades, American life and politics in the age of Trump, and his new novel, 4321, which he refers to as the biggest book of his life.
Posted inBlog Post, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Why We March: ‘A Love of Self and Each Other,’ an ‘Act of Survival’
Women’s Marches around the world brought out more than one million protesters.