July 25, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
You may already know about John Updike’s six rules for reviewers, but Slate poetry editor Robert Pinsky finds a list of just three handy rules, and discusses them in the
July 18, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
Michael Leong reviews the new book by poet Caroline Bergvall, Meddle English: New and Selected Texts, for the Brooklyn Rail. David L. Ulin reviews Dana Spiotta’s novel Stone Arabia for
July 11, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
Scott McLemee investigates a harsh review of Robert Service’s 2009 biography of Leon Trotsky in the American Historical Review and discovers plenty of controversy surrounding the much-praised book. Lev Grossman
July 5, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
David Abrams reports from the Jackson Hole Writers Conference for New West. Carolyn Kellogg reviews singer-songwriter Josh Ritter’s debut novel, Bright’s Passage, for the Los Angeles Times. Eric Banks reports
June 27, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
Laura Miller, Balakian winner Ron Charles, and NBCC board member Rigoberto Gonzales share their summer reading recommendations (incluing Daniel Orozco's story collection Orientation) at NPR.org. A. Whitney Ellsworth, the first
June 13, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
The past week brought three major prizes to three women. Nan Graham, who’s worked with writers including Don DeLillo, Annie Proulx, Ann Beattie, and others, has won the 2011 Maxwell
June 6, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
Paul Theroux and V.S. Naipaul famously ended their long-standing feud last week—and Naipaul famously squandered whatever goodwill he earned from it by declaring himself better than every woman writer, ever.
May 31, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
To commemorate a new Library of America collection of Kurt Vonnegut novels, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is spending this week paying tribute to the author. Ruth Franklin takes a look
May 23, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
We swear we didn’t have any inside knowledge: Just after we wrapped up our weeklong Celebrating Philip Roth series on Critical Mass, Roth was named the winner of the 2011
May 16, 2011
By Mark Athitakis
Do Jane Austen’s novels hold the key to being a better person? Carolyn Kellogg reviews William Deresiewicz’s A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and