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A woman’s name would undermine the credibility of the mission. Names of former Nazis, however, were no problem.
4mins
Writers need to understand their role in the storytelling process, says bestselling author Martin Amis.
The Internet is a funny place. Humor is one the things it does best, which is why I was shocked, and ultimately disappointed, at the collective reaction to Joyce Carol Oates' recent tweet.
If Flannery O’Connor somehow birthed the love child of Sid Vicious, she might end up sounding like novelist Nell Zink. Equal parts Southern Gothic’s grotesquely twisted charm and punk and alternative music’s insiderish anti-establishmentism, Zink’s second novel Mislaid will disorient you until you let it delight you. Zink’s mix — which I’ll call Southern Gothic Punk — might be an acquired taste, but a taste well worth experiencing if only to break out of the contemporary rut of MFA-programed, sound-alike fiction that’s become the bubblegum pop of today’s literature.
“riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,” begins James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, opening a torrent of words that has drowned many readers in confusion […]
New forms of writing will bring, as they always have, new ideas and new elements of creative genius.
Some books are remembered for their lyrical prose or engaging stories. Others are remembered for simply being weird.
Will "Sausage Party" survive the test of time?
Joseph Campbell argued that nearly every myth can be boiled down to a hero’s journey. Was he right?
How to say, "In many ways, Proust is similar to Joyce" and get away with it.
These hard-to-finish books are still worth the effort.
Perhaps it’s not just an oddly shaped hill, after all.
He is only out-sold by William Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.
An insect? A vermin? An unwanted animal? What in the world is Franz Kafka talking about?
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
Treating “oniomania” or compulsive buying disorder is about protecting your finances as well as your mental health.
Million Stories
"Painfully forced" is how one contemporary critic described Fitzgerald's writing style.
Art criticism is inherently subjective. Still, many critics have tried to make a case for why some of the world’s most celebrated books are in fact terribly written.
One award was for a medical procedure that incapacitated thousands of people.
Books that were rarely taught in 1963, when baby boomers were students, became classics when those same boomers were teachers and parents.
The author of classics like "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Sun Also Rises" is known and loved for his simple yet effective writing style. Here’s how to imitate it.
Famished, not famous: retrace Orwell’s hunger days, when he was one of the city’s legion of poor foreigners.
Tusks suddenly became a liability, even though in natural circumstances, tusks are very useful.
A tourist generally has an eye for the things that have become almost invisible to the resident.
New research compares the roles and political clout of royal women in eight societies spanning five continents and more than 4,000 years.
The Canadian professor calls for personal responsibility over legislation.
Explore McLuhan's theory on print culture and its influential hold over civilization.
The history and reasoning behind the much-maligned Electoral College.
Tolstoy is the sort of author that requires deep reading for full appreciation. If you don't have the time for that, there's always the War and Peace quick-read strategy.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was able to ride a wave confidence to run for Congress through the support of her friends and family. Perhaps to stop underestimating ourselves, we need to find our own confidence boosters — in our lives or online.