Lines of Poetry, Rows of Trees
Ronald Johnson’s Valley of the Many-Colored Grasses, newly re-issued, offers entry into the work of a pioneering master collagist.
Keep Portland Yearbook Photos Weird
Across thousands of images, Portland State University's yearbooks captured both society's upheaval and the city's cultural metamorphosis.
Should Readers Trust “Inaccuracy” in Memoirs about Genocide?
To what extent do errors undermine life writing? The question is an urgent one when that writing is testimony to the genocidal actions of the Khmer Rouge.
The Blu’s Hanging Controversy
Some have argued that the 1997 novel Blu's Hanging perpetuates East Asian racism against Filipinos while undermining criticism through violent sexuality.
The Caricature Who Couldn’t Appear on American Born Chinese
The television adaptation of Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel called for significant changes to the character of Chin-Kee.
What if Robinson Crusoe was a Girl?
In nineteenth-century England, stranding a (fictitious) girl on an island made a good argument for imperialism.
Canada’s Most Controversial Novel
Marian Engel's 1976 novel Bear is famous for its embrace of bestiality, but it also offers a commentary on humans' relationship with the natural world.
A Literary Hit Job: Julian Hawthorne Takes Down Margaret Fuller
Fuller’s works, and works about her, sold very well until Hawthorne cast her as a “fallen woman” in his biography of his parents.
How Books Taught Europeans to Smoke
The printed word helped spread the inhaling habit across the continent.
Monique Truong’s The Book of Salt
Centered on the Stein-Toklas household and written from the point of view of their gay Vietnamese cook, Binh, this novel tells a story of converging queer diasporas.