James Joyce’s NSFW Love Letters
The often explicit letters James Joyce wrote to Nora Barnacle contain the same mass of contradictions as his famous literary works, like Ulysses.
The Physical Pleasures of Jane Austen’s Persuasion
Smoldering glances? Romantic letters? Forbidden love? Why Persuasion may be the most seductive of Jane Austen's novels.
The Disappointing Reality of 19th-Century Courtship
For white, middle-class women in the 19th century U.S., courtship and marriage offered less emotional intimacy than their friendships with other women.
The Business of the Romance Novel
How romance novels—despite their decided lack of cultural clout—became big business for the publishing industry.
Asian Families, the RAND Book, and Science Fiction
New books and scholarship from Stanford University Press, University of Minnesota, and MIT Press.
Was Modernism Meant to Keep the Working Classes Out?
In the 19th century, more working class readers started partaking in contemporary fiction. Modernist literature, however, was specifically not for them.
Samuel Beckett and the Theatre of Resistance
The dark, absurdist humor of Samuel Beckett's work was directly informed by his time in the French Resistance during World War II.
Austen Fans, Modern Belief, and Environmental Politics
New books and scholarship from Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, and the University Press of Colorado.
Ten Poems about Travel
Poetry about all kinds of travel—from grand adventures to family vacations—by Elizabeth Bishop, Rita Dove, and more.
The Periodicals That Shaped American Boyhood
19th-century "story papers" gave boys stories they liked, while also encouraging readers to contribute their own material and tell their own stories.