Who Decides Which Books Are “Great?”
The concept of “Great Books," the historian Tim Lacy explains, developed in the late nineteenth century as an attempt to foster a “democratic culture.”
The Patron Saint of Bookstores
100 years ago, Sylvia Beach, the first publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses, opened the doors to her legendary bookstore, Shakespeare & Co.
Burn This Book!
Li Zhi’s exasperation with the corruption, greed, and superficiality of the powerbrokers in his society fueled his rebellious writing.
T.S. Eliot
Remembering the famous modernist poet T.S. Eliot with his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
The Question of Race in Beowulf
J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal scholarship on Beowulf centers a white male gaze. Toni Morrison focused on Grendel and his mother as raced and marginal figures.
Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark
Books and other art are often censored for covertly racist reasons.
H.G. Wells’s Letters to Cora Crane
The correspondence between famous novelist H.G. Wells and Cora Crane, the partner of "The Red Badge of Courage" author Stephen Crane.
Upton Sinclair
Best known as the author of "The Jungle," Upton Sinclair had some thoughts about the American economy, which he shared in this 1906 essay.
The Life Changing Linguistics of… Nigerian Scam Emails
How do scammers use language to trick their victims?
Eleven Poems for Fall
Cozy up to autumn with verse from Dylan Thomas, Rainer Maria Rilke, Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and more.