April 03, 2012

The Myth of the Fourth Estate

By Gregory Shaya

We should think of reading the paper and watching the news as acts belonging to the world of ritual as much as the commerce of information.

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March 22, 2012

Living in the Margins

By Colin Dickey

In medieval marginalia, you might find complaining monks, a nun breastfeeding a monkey, and sexual wordplay. Oh, and doodles, lots of doodles.

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December 23, 2011

Predicting Their Own Demise

By Shaj Mathew

We can say what we want about the future of reading, but perhaps we ought to let the novel speak for itself.

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December 22, 2011

The Patron Saint of Dark Days

By Colin Dickey

The shortest day of the year can drive anyone a little crazy, including Vincent Van Gogh.

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November 01, 2011

The Zombie Apocalypse of Daniel Defoe

By Andrew McConnell Stott

The Great Plague of London and narratives of the undead.

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October 28, 2011

Heraclitus in Guatemala

By D. Graham Burnett

D. Graham Burnett recounts an unlikely conversation he had with his barber about the philosophy of history.

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October 20, 2011

The Worst Business in the World

By Ben Tarnoff

Everyday is doomsday if you ask certain people about the future of publishing. But the history of bookselling proves it is more adaptive than its critics give it credit for.

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October 14, 2011

An Artist in the North

By Celia Farber

The work of Tomas Tranströmer has never been weighted down by politics or sentiment, explains Celia Farber, who has known the poet for years.

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October 07, 2011

The Late Word

By Curtis White

Curtis White discusses the connection between bookselling and book culture and what the current shift in the former means for the future of 'literature.'

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