The greatest story ever sold: Mark McGurl argues that Jeff Bezos’s online behemoth has reshaped the novel in its own image
The Stanford University professor surveys the literary landscape in the shadow of the online giant.
“White folks get to erase or occlude parts of their history”: Ian Williams on race, language, and his new essay collection, Disorientation
For the author, the titular condition involves those moments when one is just trying to live one’s life and is suddenly reminded of one’s race.
Why so serious? Punch, Pennywise, and the evolution of the bad clown in popular culture
“It’s difficult to assign a specific cultural meaning to the bad clown, because it is such a malleable archetype,” Radford writes.
Control tactics: Sarah Berman discusses writing about Keith Raniere, NXIVM, and a self-empowerment scheme that masked the wanton abuse of countless women
The Vancouver journalist’s book chronicles a four-year plunge into the depths of the NXIVM miasma.
Scary stories: a single-volume anthology from the British Library provides a cogent and concise history of the literary horror genre
From 17th century Gothic novels to the modern-day zombie story, the horror novel continues to fascinate readers and evolve in the literary consciousness.
To catch a predator: Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown’s book details her pursuit of justice for the victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Though marred by some sloppy writing and digressions, Brown’s book provides a valuable counter to a justice system in thrall to wealth and influence.
Skin in the game: librarian Megan Rosenbloom goes on a hunt for a very esoteric category of rare books
As a leader of the Anthropodermic Book Project, Rosenbloom has for years been ensconced in the realm of anthropodermic bibliopegy – in lay terms, the practice of binding books in human skin.
“I wanted to stimulate people”: Canadian playwright Brad Fraser on provocation, the theatrical establishment, and his new memoir
“I realized the adult world was every bit as fucked up as anything else."
“They don’t see it until they see it”: Cheryl Thompson on Harriet Beecher Stowe, Kevin Hart, and the legacy of a complicated literary figure
The through-line in Thompson’s book involves a historical inability on the part of Western culture to see Black people as fully human.
Running in the family: Jordan Abel’s multimedia, polyvalent memoir addresses issues of identity and cultural heritage in the face of intergenerational trauma
Griffin Poetry Prize winner Abel has crafted a cross-genre work that addresses questions of identity and the ways we are affected by past hurt.