In this ongoing series, Critical Mass asks critics to name five books that should be found in any reviewer's library. Unable to settle on five, here are six books suggested
April 8, 2011
Critical Library: William Gass
By William Gass
Critical Mass
April 5, 2011
Small Press Spotlight: Rachel Hadas
By Rigoberto Gonzalez
Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry, Paul Dry Books, 2011. Rachel Hadas is Board of Governors Professor of English at Rutgers University in Newark. She is the
January 27, 2011
Guest Post by Reamy Jansen: “A High-Sounding but Bogus Entity”
By Reamy Jansen
NBCC member Reamy Jansen recently had these observations about the New York Times Book Review's “Why Criticism Matters” special section. Some weeks ago (Jan 2, 2011) the New York Times
January 20, 2011
From the Archives: Allen Barra on Wilfrid Sheed
By Jane Ciabattari
Allen Barra shares his admiration of Wilfrid Sheed, who died on Wednesday at 80, in this “In Retrospect” series essay on Sheed's “Essays in Disguise,” an NBCC finalist in criticism.
January 20, 2011
From the Critical Mass Archives: Gary Giddins on Wilfrid Sheed
By Jane Ciabattari
In the early summer of 2007, NBCC winner Gary Giddins listed the books he most anticipated, including “The House That George Built,” the last book by Wilfrid Sheed, who died
January 20, 2011
From the Critical Mass Archives: Scott McLemee on Wilfrid Sheed
By Jane Ciabattari
Scott McLemee, no slouch of a critic (winner of the NBCC's Nona Balakian award for excellence in reviewing) invoked Wilfird Sheed, book critic, novelist, memoirist, as he announced the winner
December 15, 2010
Critical Library: Geoff Dyer
By Eric Banks
In this ongoing series, Critical Mass asks critics to name five books that should be found in any reviewer's library. Unable to settle on five, here are seven titles suggested
December 9, 2010
Heresy of Truth: Thomas Pynchon’s “Against the Day”
By Dale Peck
NBCC member Dale Peck presented this apologia at the NBCC's “Critics Revise and Recant ” event this fall, as part of Litquake's 3rd annual NYC LitCrawl: Before it’s read, a
November 26, 2010
Critical Library: Ruth Franklin
By Eric Banks
In this ongoing series, Critical Mass asks critics to name five books that should be found in any reviewer's library. Here are the titles suggested by Ruth Franklin, senior editor
November 25, 2010
What Can a Book Review Do for a Book?
By Jane Ciabattari
Here's what NBCC board member and 2009 criticism finalist Stephen Burt had to say about book reviews at Talk of the Stacks, the November 3 reading by NBCC awardees in