Octavia Butler’s Roots in Black History
The Parable books seem different yet familiar, their plots framed by a world shattered by racism, economic inequality, and climate change.
Inventing the Beach Read
Feeling guilty about kicking back with a paperback during vacation? There’s a precedent for escapist holiday reading, particularly during times of anxiety.
T. S. Eliot and the Holy Grail
The Nobel Laureate drew on a centuries-old legend when he put the Fisher King in The Waste Land.
Grand Illusions
By the time L. Frank Baum introduced the world to Dorothy and the gang, he’d already made his name as a shop window dresser par excellence.
Reading Aloud in the Early Republic
Magazines of the freshly founded United States drew legitimacy and stability from the collective voice and sociability of their editors.
All Male Cats Are Named Tom: Or, the Uneasy Symbiosis between T. S. Eliot and Groucho Marx
Class and religious differences, among other factors, thwarted the would-be friendship between two cultural titans, suggesting opposites attract, but may not adhere.
The New York School Poets
From Bernadette Mayer to Joan Mitchell. Tracing the path from the New York School poets to their painter friends.
The Bug in the Computer Bug Story
Soon after a team of engineers discovered a moth in a machine at Harvard, the word "bug" became a standard part of the programmer's lexicon. Or did it?