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Dear Bill: Letters From a Young John Updike to His Editor, William Maxwell

Dear Bill: Letters From a Young John Updike to His Editor, William Maxwell

“Elizabeth keeps falling down the steep stairs here. Send the checks. I need the money.”

By James Schiff | October 21, 2025

Portnoy: On the Making of Philip Roth’s Groundbreaking Novel"> The Psychology of <em

The Psychology of <em

Portnoy: On the Making of Philip Roth’s Groundbreaking Novel">

Portnoy: On the Making of Philip Roth’s Groundbreaking Novel">The Psychology of Portnoy: On the Making of Philip Roth’s Groundbreaking Novel

Steven J. Zipperstein Explores the Biographical Underpinnings of an Iconic Work of Jewish American Fiction

By Steven J. Zipperstein | October 20, 2025

How Viking Introduced John Steinbeck, James Joyce and More to American Readers

How Viking Introduced John Steinbeck, James Joyce and More to American Readers

Paul Slovak on Pascal Covici, the Editor Who Nurtured Some of the Most Iconic Names in Literature

By Paul Slovak | September 16, 2025

My high school English syllabus, ranked.

My high school English syllabus, ranked.

By Brittany Allen | September 8, 2025

Vineland—a Disappointment When It Was Published—is the Novel We Need Right Now"> Why Thomas Pynchon’s <em

Why Thomas Pynchon’s <em

Vineland—a Disappointment When It Was Published—is the Novel We Need Right Now">

Vineland—a Disappointment When It Was Published—is the Novel We Need Right Now">Why Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland—a Disappointment When It Was Published—is the Novel We Need Right Now

Devin Thomas O’Shea on What a Master of the 20th Century Can Offer the 21st

By Devin Thomas O’Shea | August 5, 2025

Black Finnegan: On William Melvin Kelley, James Joyce, and the Avant-Garde of the Subaltern

Black Finnegan: On William Melvin Kelley, James Joyce, and the Avant-Garde of the Subaltern

Benjamin Hale Remembers His Literary Mentor

By Benjamin Hale | June 23, 2025

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On Marianne Moore, Unexpected Celebrity Poet of Midcentury America

By Susan Gubar | June 9, 2025

Bringing the War Home: How Tim O'Brien Approached the Art of Moral Consequence

By Alex Vernon | May 27, 2025

Who Is the Real Patron Saint of Realism?">Lucia Berlin vs. Raymond Carver:
Who Is the Real Patron Saint of Realism?

By Julien C. Levy | April 23, 2025

The Great Gatsby at 100"> On My Grandfather’s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s <em

On My Grandfather’s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s <em

The Great Gatsby at 100">

The Great Gatsby at 100">On My Grandfather’s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby at 100

Eleanor Lanahan Reflects on the Literary Legacy of a Timeless American Novel

By Eleanor Lanahan | April 7, 2025

American Literature’s White Whale: Why the “Great American Novel” is Still Worth Pursuing

American Literature’s White Whale: Why the “Great American Novel” is Still Worth Pursuing

Ed Simon on the Importance of Chasing an Elusive Literary Ideal in an Era of National Decline

By Ed Simon | April 2, 2025

An Integral Part of the Story: A Short History of Short Fiction by American Women

An Integral Part of the Story: A Short History of Short Fiction by American Women

Arielle Zibrak Explores the Diverse Literary Landscape of 19th- and Early 20th-Century Female Writers in the United States

By Arielle Zibrak | March 19, 2025

What Nathaniel Hawthorne Has To Say to Silicon Valley About Techno-Optimism

What Nathaniel Hawthorne Has To Say to Silicon Valley About Techno-Optimism

Lisa Catherine Harper on the Painfully Enduring Lessons of a Celebrated 19th-Century American Writer

By Lisa Catherine Harper | March 13, 2025

What Robert Frost’s Philosophy of the Human Spirit Says About His Artistic Ethos

What Robert Frost’s Philosophy of the Human Spirit Says About His Artistic Ethos

Adam Plunkett on the Poet’s Key Intellectual and Literary Influences

By Adam Plunkett | February 18, 2025

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"> How Black and White America Reacted to Maya Angelou’s <em

How Black and White America Reacted to Maya Angelou’s <em

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings">

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings">How Black and White America Reacted to Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Scott W. Stern on the Reception of an American Classic and the Birth of a Renaissance of Black Women Writers

By Scott W. Stern | January 28, 2025

A Self-Made Myth: How Edith Wharton Rewrote Her Own Childhood

A Self-Made Myth: How Edith Wharton Rewrote Her Own Childhood

Constance Roisin on the Author’s Construction of Herself in Fiction and in Life

By Constance Roisin | January 24, 2025

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