About a Mountain
John D'Agata traces the disturbing consequences of a planned nuclear waste dump, and finds
shadowy correspondences in a self-destructive age. Paul La Farge reviews.
The Surrendered
Chang-rae Lee's operatic tale of war and loss.
Still Life
Adventures in taxidermy.
Five Books
Our feathered friends.
Guest Books
Three picks from Tracy Chevalier.
LIBRARY WITHOUT WALLS
On the Shoulders of Giants
Michael Dirda revists a classic of intellectual wit.
READING ROMANCE
Back to the Future
Eloisa James on making old forms new again.
GRIN & TONIC
Contact Info
Update your address book.
INTERVIEW
Chang-rae Lee
The novelist on The Surrendered,
his powerful new story of war, mercy, and endurance.
ROCK & ROLL &
Triumph of the Id
On the addictive allure of Lil Wayne's manic wordplay and extraterrestrial perspective.
From Pulp to Sculpture
The short fiction of Theodore Sturgeon.
Beyond Ideology
Ezra Klein on what ails the Senate.
Mrs. Adams in Winter
A First Lady's wartime journey.
Nightwatching
Greenaway's tribute to Rembrandt.
Daybook
March 10: On this day in 1948, Zelda Fitzgerald and eight other patients were killed in a fire at the Highland Mental Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Zelda had been in and out of institutions for eighteen years; for much of that time, as…
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Previously in Daybook
In the Margin
It’s impossible to spend one's days immersed in conceiving, assigning, and editing book reviews without wondering what effect the constantly running engine of assessment has on…
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Earlier Posts
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The Long List
Books CDs, DVDs to know about now
The Museum of Eterna’s Novel
A welcome new translation of an ingeniously constructed fiction by a neglected Latin American master. The work of the Argentinian Fernandez (1874-1952), seen as an influence of Jorge Luis Borges, is held in the highest esteem in his native land.
For the Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus
The acclaimed cultural history illuminates a turbulent and telling period in French history.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The fascinating and moving story of a woman's biological legacy is one of the most deservedly acclaimed books of the year. Our reviewer, Jerry Coyne, calls it, "a modern classic of science writing. . . . [Skloot's] mixture of science and biography is sui generis, and its themes profound: racism, ethics, and scientific illiteracy."