writing

Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Sentence’ Is a Ghost Story and Epitaph for the Covid Shutdown

Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Sentence’ Is a Ghost Story and Epitaph for the Covid Shutdown

Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence becomes a way to acknowledge the surrealism that has always pulsated just beneath the surface of American life.

When Harper Lee Came up Short: ‘Furious Hours’

When Harper Lee Came up Short: ‘Furious Hours’

Casey Cep traces Harper Lee's winding road to defeat in Furious Hours.

Irony Triumphs in Theodor Kallifatides’s ‘Another Life’

Irony Triumphs in Theodor Kallifatides’s ‘Another Life’

In writing about the inability to write, Theodor Kallifatides has produced a book, Another Life, which aches with its own quiet beauties and inspires with its resilient creativity.

John McPhee’s ‘Draft No. 4’ Provides Easygoing Wisdom for Readers and Writers

John McPhee’s ‘Draft No. 4’ Provides Easygoing Wisdom for Readers and Writers

A meditation about the mechanics of writing is a refreshing break from the countless blogs, books, and programs designed to help people who want to write become writers.

‘The Accidental Life’ Is Both a Time Capsule and a Guide

‘The Accidental Life’ Is Both a Time Capsule and a Guide

Like a good editor, Terry McDonell may be invisible, but the insights into writing and editing make up for the author's elusiveness, here.

Questioning Common Assumptions and So-Called Conventional Wisdom: ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’

20 Questions: Lynn Freed