Roundtable
Opinions and analysis from Lapham’s Quarterly writers and editors.
July 20, 2025
July 24, 2020
The First Best Seller
On Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and the prehistory of the romance novel.
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July 22, 2020
Forgotten Best Sellers
Lapham’s Quarterly explores the history of the best seller.
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July 22, 2020
The Best Seller Who Hated Best Sellers
What Edith Wharton’s library tells us about her reading habits.
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July 22, 2020
Prizewinning Top Sellers
Since 1918 only seven Pulitzer Prize–winning novels have also been Publishers Weekly’s best-selling novel of the year.
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August 07, 2023
Monumental Mistakes
2023:
Fitness instructor carves his girlfriend’s name into the Colosseum.
c. 1850:
Thompson of Sunderland makes his mark on Pompey’s pillar.
May 22, 2023
Revolutionary Lovebirds
2023:
Writers on strike search for romance at the picket line.
c. 1945:
Young communists engage in party matchmaking.