The Real Reason Fine Art Costs So Much
To outsiders, art auctions can seem like a parody of bizarre spending by wealthy people. The origins of ultra-expensive art lies in the nineteenth-century.
The Delightful Language of Commencement
Commencement speeches have inspired, motivated and captivated many. Just what makes the words found in them so wonderful and life-affirming?
Geek Love: Our Modern Monster Story
The writer Katherine Dunn died last week at age 70. Anyone who ever felt like an outsider found a friend in her 1989 novel Geek Love.
“What a lark! What a plunge!”: Celebrating Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway was published on May 14, 1925. We look at the book 90+ years on.
Yinka Shonibare: Postcolonial Film and Fabrication
Explore Yinka Shonibare’s first film featuring dramatic postcolonial performances that highlight the slipperiness of identity-making and history-telling.
Daniel Aaron: Americanist
Daniel Aaron, a forerunner in the field of American Studies, has passed away at 103.
The Best Book You’ve Never Read
The best book you've never read may just be 'Kristin Lavransdatter,' which won its author Sigrid Undset the Nobel Prize in 1928.
Charles Dickens and the Linguistic Art of the Minor Character
Charles Dickens' characters are famous for their elaborate, often hilarious names. Even for bit parts, Dickens' naming conventions were linguistically rich.
How Victorian Writers Eroticized Mormons
Victorian anti-Mormonism meant 19th-century Americans were both fascinated and frightened by Mormons' marriage and sexual practices.
The One Thing Parents Really Need
The prologue of Catherine Newman’s new parenting memoir Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood’s Messy Years, evocatively called ...