Every Good Bird Does Fine
Is birdsong music, speech, or something else altogether? The question has raged for millennia, drawing in everyone from St. Augustine to Virginia Woolf.
Ernest Hemingway and Gender Fluidity
Despite his reputation for hypermasculinity, the author was fascinated by different forms of gender expression.
Walter Benn Michaels: What’s His Deal?
The literary critic Walter Benn Michaels challenges the prevailing trends of postmodernist theory.
Franz Kafka’s The Trial—It’s Funny Because It’s True
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
What The Great Gatsby Reveals About The Jazz Age
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel embraced jazz, while also falling prey to the racist caricatures associated with it.
More Hipster Than Thou: Is Vintage Language Back in Vogue?
A look at the recent boon in archaic terms and its relationship to "hipster" culture.
Taylor Swift: 1989’s Confessional Poet
Since she first came to prominence, Taylor Swift's songs have been read autobiographically.
Still Visible: William Styron’s Memoir of Madness 25 Years Later
An interview with the daughter of William Styron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sophie's Choice.