From Daljit Nagra to Charlie Porter: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring National Dish by Anya von Bremzen and Metropolitan by Andrew Martin.
ByLiterature
Immerse yourself in the captivating world of literature with our collection of articles, offering literary analysis, book recommendations, author spotlights, and thought-provoking discussions that celebrate the written word.
Evelyn Waugh is laughing at you
His lethally coherent worldview still turns reality into a farce.
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The noble art of procrastination
I expend more energy planning work than doing it, but the writing routines of literary titans, from Balzac to Patricia…
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Cormac McCarthy’s art of war
In Blood Meridian the author reaches the dark heart of the American novel – where violence is timeless.
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The “trauma” of publishing a novel
I once found it risible to hear authors describe the publication process as “traumatising”. Then my first novel came out,…
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Milan Kundera’s sexual revolutions
The misunderstood author cared more about skirt-chasing than power politics.
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Antonia Fraser: “I don’t like being unpopular”
The historian on growing up as “a boy”, her “last” biography, and the joy of having close male friends in…
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Simone de Beauvoir and the art of loss
Sixty years ago, the French writer’s unflinching memoir of her mother’s death tested the limits of her existentialism.
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How not to drown
Growing up as a fish out of water.
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Virginia Woolf’s living book
The writer’s diaries reveal a mind striving to capture the elusive moment.
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A TikTok publishing house is bad news for books
Do we really want our literary landscape to be overrun with romance novels, trashy thrillers and scientifically dubious self-help?
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What is Annie Ernaux hiding?
What the Nobel Laureate teaches us about shame, confession and secrecy.
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From Ferdinand Mount to Isabel Waidner: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Crisis Actor by Declan Ryan and Women We Buried, Women We Burned by Rachel Louise Snyder.
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Joyce Carol Oates, online and off
The novelist reflects on Twitter, autofiction and our lack of a “sense of history”.
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Lorrie Moore’s American afterlife
Moore’s new novel is an absurd, profound treatise on death and grief that only stumbles when it reaches for a…
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Goodreads is degrading our literary culture
Everyone can, and should, be a critic. But the reviews website is having a sinister effect on books.
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Why literary snobs don’t get Bridget Jones
Moralising critics forget the importance of fiction holding up a mirror to society’s flaws.
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From Leïla Slimani to Laura Cumming: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Penance by Eliza Clark and White Hot by Matt Roller and Tim Wigmore.
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Death and literature in Ukraine
Kyiv’s thriving literary scene was marred by the death of the novelist Victoria Amelina.
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Lucinda Williams: “Poor women? After a while that becomes ridiculous”
The songwriter on her stroke, country vs rock, and why she hates “feminists in music using the fact that they’re…
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