Lord of the Ringworld: In Praise of Larry Niven
The quintessential—yet underappreciated—”hard” science fiction writer deserves another look
Articles from Contributor
R.I.P. Ray Bradbury: He Jumped Off Cliffs and Never Hit the Ground
More than fantasy or even science fiction, Ray Bradbury wrote horror, and like so many great horror writers he was himself utterly without fear, of anything. He wasn’t afraid of looking uncool—he wasn’t scared to openly love …
A Book Lover’s Guide to Reading and Walking at the Same Time
(Lev Grossman writes about books here on Wednesdays. Subscribe to his RSS feed.)
I wanted to start this post by saying that everybody’s done it, at least once or twice, but probably that’s not true. I know it’s a weakness. …
Literary Revolution in the Supermarket Aisle: Genre Fiction Is Disruptive Technology
How science fiction, fantasy, romance, mysteries and all the rest will take over the world
The Year in Novels So Far; Plus, Hilary Mantel!
Though it’s only May, I’ve already read enough novels I love to fill up most of my top 10 list for 2012—including Bring Up the Bodies
Confessions of (Another) Book Reviewer
For Orwell, being a book critic was hell. But I’m a lot luckier than he was—the job is so different now.
The Tragedy of the English Country House
Nobody likes the one percent, so why can’t we stop reading novels about their stately homes?
Assassination Fascination: A Review of Laurent Binet’s Prize-Winning HHhH
The year after I graduated college I had a job in a library. When people underlined passages in the library books, or made notes in the margins, the books were sent to me. I erased the lines and the notes. Yes, that was my …
Prize Fight: Why I’m Okay With There Being No Pulitzer for Fiction This Year
I’m not one of your knockabout, knuckle-scarred, Internet-controversy-courting book critics. Occasionally I stumble into controversy accidentally, but not because I enjoy it. It’s probably just because I’m a weird person. …
Grab Life By The Sugar Frosted Nutsack
Mark Leyner sure does. His first novel in 15 years proves he is still a mad genius.
My Friend Dahmer: The Unspeakable Horror of Life in the 1970s
An award-winning cartoonist pens a graphic novel about his high school classmate, a shy teenager who would become a monster.
Two Good Books: Elizabeth Hand’s Available Dark and Edward St. Aubyn’s At Last
In Hand’s thriller, we see what Lisbeth Salander would look like in 30 years, if she were tall, blonde and plausible. St. Aubyn’s latest further proves that he might be the most underrated novelist writing in English.
Beyond Good and Awful: Literary Value in the Age of the Amazon Review
(Lev Grossman writes about books here on Wednesdays. Subscribe to his RSS feed.)
The other day I was reading a book review on a blog. The review was of a literary novel by a well-known writer. The review made the argument that …