No American Author Should Win the Nobel Prize
It’s been 20 years since the U.S. has claimed the world’s top book prize. With apologies to Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates and even Bob Dylan, we should hope the shutout continues
Articles from Contributor
Bridget Jones Exclusive: How Helen Fielding Broke the News About Mark Darcy to Colin Firth
How do you tell the leading man of the wildly successful film adaptations of two of your novels that in the third novel his character is no more? If you’re Helen Fielding, you break it to him as gently as possible.
Fielding …
Bad News for Britain’s Top Book Prize
Once a cultural vehicle for new voices, the Booker will miss out by letting American-born authors in
Karl Taro Greenfeld on His New Book, Urban Origin Myths and Whether Dads Can “Have It All”
“I think every writer tends to write about his immediate environment.”
The Trailblazer: Q&A with Wild author and advice columnist Cheryl Strayed
The first Dear Sugar letter I read was from a woman who called herself Stuck. She had had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant. Her doctor told her the pregnancy might have failed in part because she was overweight. She …
Counting Down Dickens’ Greatest Novels. Number 1: Bleak House
Bleak House is the great writer’s grandest, most virtuosic achievement.
Counting Down Dickens’ Greatest Novels. Number 2: Great Expectations
The older Dickens got, the darker his books. With Great Expectations, he asks: How long can a society ignore the nefarious, corrupt or compromised sources of its wealth?
Top 10 Non-Dickens Books for Dickens Fans
Dickens wrote fourteen and a half novels, which means that any devotee of his work runs the risk of running out. I recommend the titles below to fill the void and expand your sense of both his literary scene and his legacy. …
Counting Down Dickens’ Greatest Novels. Number 3: Little Dorrit
Contemporary critical reception of Dickens’ 11th novel was mixed, but in keeping with the gradual swing toward appreciation of the darker Dickens, it now stands as proof of his genius.
Counting Down Dickens’ Greatest Novels. Number 4: David Copperfield
Every time I read the book I think, the story of a boy who overcomes adversity and grows up to be a writer? That’s the most cliché first-novel idea around. Except that it was Dickens’ eighth, and it marked a departure.