(Vincent) Van Gogh likely had a cadre of mental issues, none of which were suitably diagnosed while he was alive. Yet what seemed to weigh heaviest on him was the inevitability of his loneliness. According to his letters to Theo, he felt he had one of two options: content himself with loneliness or try to […]
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Posted inFiction, Quotes
Ben Lerner on Real-Life Experiences in Fiction
The author talks with The Believer about how real experiences make their way into books.
Posted inReading List
#NoShame in Mental Illness: A Reading List
Here, I’ve collected several stories about mental illness, many written by writers of color.
Posted inNonfiction
A Dead Superhero Is a Marvelous Corpse
A theory of superhero suffering and death.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
Franklin, Reconsidered: An Essay by Jill Lepore
Jill Lepore revisits the legacy of Benjamin Franklin, who in his time was “the most accomplished and famous American who had ever lived.”
Posted inFiction, Reading List
10 Short Stories I Loved in 2014
Below is a guest post from Pravesh Bhardwaj, a filmmaker based in Mumbai who has been posting his favorite short stories all year.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Revisiting the Vibrancy of Deaf Culture: A Reading List
Longreads to celebrate the vibrancy, history, and enduring presence of Deaf culture and its advocates.
Posted inFiction, Quotes
What Lurks in the Dark Corners
The mothers don’t know where I am. I see them occasionally turning in circles, looking for me. They lean their heads close together and talk behind their hands, and I know they are wondering. But like I always tell them, they won’t see me. If they do, it’s because something happened.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Elena Ferrante on the Historic Struggle of Women Writers
INTERVIEWER Do you think female fiction is constitutionally weak? FERRANTE Not at all. I’m talking about my adolescent anxieties. For obvious historical reasons, women’s writing has a less dense and varied tradition than male writing, but it has extremely high points and also an extraordinary foundational value—just think of Jane Austen. The twentieth century, besides, […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
A Reading List for My 25-Year-Old Self
This list is a birthday gift to me and, I hope, of use to you, too.
