When the Culture Wars Came for the Theater
A new book sees the reactionary response to a New Deal–era arts initiative as a precursor to today’s cultural divisions.
Stop Trying to Understand Kafka
His parables aren’t supposed to make sense.
Nine Books About Aging, Growing, and Changing
Moments of great physical upheaval can be accompanied by great revelations.
No Miracle
A poem for Sunday
The Women Who Caused a Revolution in Cooking
Joan Nathan reflects on Judith Jones and the cookbooks she edited.
To Have or Not Have Children
A new book earnestly wrestles with what it means to bring a person into the world.
You’ll Become a Fan of These Fierce, Strange Girls
Headshot upends the classic story of the underdog by turning each of its characters into one.
The Real ‘Deep State’
Lobbying firms have disguised their influence so well that it’s often barely visible even to savvy Washington insiders.
The Woman Who Made America Take Cookbooks Seriously
Judith Jones edited culinary greats such as Julia Child and Edna Lewis—and identified the pleasure at the core of traditional “women’s work.”
Departing Afghanistan
A poem for Memorial Day
A Different Kind of Female Protagonist
Two new literary works from Colombe Schneck and R. O. Kwon feature fascinating, flawed women.
Go Ahead and Make Fun of Your Friends
It’s good for both of you.
The Brooklyn Sequel Asks the Most American of Questions About Immigration
In his new novel, Colm Tóibín explores the twinned relationship between Ireland and America.
What Happens When Desire Fuels a Life
R. O. Kwon’s new novel, Exhibit, takes an expansive view of the things that women are punished for wanting.
Nothing Is a Body
A poem for Wednesday
A Powerful Indictment of the Art World
Hari Kunzru’s new novel deflates the idea of an artistic life as a noble pursuit.
A French Reproach to Our Big, Baggy American Memoirs
In her slim books, the French writer Colombe Schneck stares honestly at her own life, without illusions or sentimentality.
850 Bryant
A poem for Sunday
‘An Entire Life Handed Over to Art’
Alice Munro’s death was an occasion to praise her life as a writer as much as her actual work.
What Alice Munro Has Left Us
A reflection on the death at 92 of the Nobel Prize–winning master of the short story
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