#literature

#literature

As a boy, he'd "read American history, not for school, not because I had to, but because I had, by accident, stepped through the thin, crackly crust of the present, and felt the first pull of the quicksand about my ankles." Tripping into that quicksand is how Burden would one day end up doing Stark's dreadful bidding: using his formidable research skills to discover the darkest deeds in the deepest past of Stark's political enemies. But, as Warren insisted, "the story of Willie Stark and the story of Jack Burden are, in one sense, one story." They're in that quicksand together, up to their gizzards.

In 2023 I went to the French towns of Amiens and Bourges to do some research on cathedrals for certain scenes in Dear Monica Lewinsky. I had already written most of the novel; a lot of it was based on some scholarship I've done, reading books, and memories of my own study abroad program in France in the 1990s.

When I am writing a book, I need to close the door when I finish, and no one should get in. I have the idea in my mind that the story is an entity that lives in that room, with the characters and the emotions that I have been putting together. And when I come back the next day, I open the door and it's waiting for me intact.

Arvo Part ranks among the most frequently performed living composers of contemporary music worldwide. His technique, known as the 'tintinnabuli' method, crafted a musical language that is distinctive, minimalist and deeply spiritual.

Baldwin's Book Barn, built in 1822, has witnessed over 200 years of American history, including 41 presidents and the evolution from horse-drawn carriages to space travel.

In some way, description is violation. Does beauty forgive everything? If we make something beautiful enough, does that mean you get a free pass? I don't know. I hope so.

"It's actually a dream come true for me. When it went away in like 2021, I was just becoming a full-time author and I was sad because I was like that won't be a dream of mine come true, and now it's back, so fantastic," said Scarlett St. Clair.

How long can you silence the very thing that makes you human? Ai Weiwei's new book On Censorship draws on a lifetime of fighting state control and reflects on the harms of censorship.

Classic France is a country of nuance with a love of conversation and freedom and an aversion to fanaticism. Contemporary Houellebecq describes France as a museum, where landscape turns into decor and where rural areas are emptying out.

Morris was a sympathetic historian of empire who became a republican Welsh nationalist, and yet she accepted a CBE, showcasing her complex identity.

Catherine Lacey reads her story 'Rate Your Happiness,' from the April 13, 2026, issue of the magazine, highlighting her narrative style and thematic depth.

Valeria Luiselli, an acclaimed author, discusses the intricacies of Julio Cortázar's 'The Night Face Up,' highlighting its themes and narrative structure that intertwine reality and dreams.

Sigmund Freud believed that every crush has a strand of disgust, that people are attracted to what repulses them. The enchantment of an infatuation always counterbalances the reality that our lovers - irksome, confusing, and unflaggingly human - depart from whatever ideal archetype we have stored in our heads.

The creative output of that tribe was so immense, and their bohemian adventures so inspiring, that I wrote and published a historical novel, The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty featuring many figures from the Lost Generation.