Gambling, Debt, and Literary Fortune
Dostoevsky lost everything at the Wiesbaden casino, but the episode seemed to finally reveal to him the true depth of his habit, that it threatened not only his marriage but the life of his wife.
The Best Books on Finding Home in American Storytelling
American literature has always reflected a shared hope of finding home; the impulse to stake out a better life by moving to a new place is a recurring focus in our communal storytelling.
The Best Books on Athenian Democracy
When Grote published his monumental history, almost nobody believed that the ancient Athenian system was anything more than mob rule.
The Best Books in Christian Historical Fiction
Johnny Cash’s drug-addled soul identified with the troubled Saul; and Cash often described his own Damascene experience, in Nickajack Cave on the Tennessee River, in Pauline terms.
The Best Books by Joseph Conrad
For Marlow, meaning for human existence can only come from confronting an empty universe and in the face of that knowledge maintaining an “inner strength.”
Memories Written on the Body
Ernaux has landed on a narrative form that captures not only the workings of memory (the “thousands of notes” we keep to ourselves) but also the manic mood and mechanics of our digital age.
Between Nature and History
If all principles of right are contingent upon history, then nihilism must result, for history is unstable and indeterminate.
Francesca Brunetti: Home, Un-homey Home
This new show takes the form of a series of screen-paintings displaying women and their families, often in states of sadness or frustration.
The Untimely Lesson of Coco
The new Disney film Coco looks at a timeless dilemma in an untimely way.
