Data journalist Ben Blatt takes his a mathematical approach to the writers of fiction.
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Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Quotes
Screw You, and the Icelandic Pony You Rode In On
Novelist Nell Zink, in n+1, takes readers on a rambling but sharp journey through writers and novels of the 20th century in the name of exploring realism, compassion, and justice in fiction.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Quotes
The Memoirist’s Dilemma
Fourteen years after her memoir about about her father’s death was released, novelist Aminatta Forna still deals with after-effects, both good and bad.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
People Sorting: An Interview With ‘Personality Brokers’ Author Merve Emre
Merve Emre on the history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Cost of Being a Regular Ol’ American Place
What does it mean for the Midwest to think of itself as a featureless land full of average Americans?
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 inFiction, Quotes
Law and Order, Coffee Shop Edition
Susan Read’s short fiction centers on a Kafka-esque interrogation in the back room of a coffee shop — you know, the one where they wear the green aprons — that’s a stinging indictment of the byzantine policies, procedures, and psychology of being a low wage employee.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Considering the Novel in the Age of Obama
Have “postmodern” and “postwar” have become outmoded as classifications for novels? Lorentzen suggests it’s more useful to look at trends in fiction relative to the administration they were released under. During Obama’s, he says, novelists looked to answer questions of authenticity. During Trump’s, he anticipates dystopian narratives.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
A True (Non-Hierarchical, Shared) Love
Journalist Mithila Phadke navigates polyamory while falling in love for the first time.
Posted ininvestigations, Nonfiction, Story, Unapologetic Women
This Is How a Woman Is Erased From Her Job
After taking over from George Plimpton, Brigid Hughes was pushed out as the editor of The Paris Review and omitted from the magazine’s history.
